Expressing Our Feelings

It feels so good to cry . . .

-- Susan Cygnet
Some of us were taught that it's bad to express our feelings directly -- crying, wailing, jumping up and down for joy -- that it's good manners to talk softly, slowly, and politely and to sit still.

But what happens to our feelings when we sit still? If they don't get expressed, they must be caught inside our bodies.

Trapped feelings are like birds in a cage, or a rabbit in a trap: they try to get out any way they can. They peck on our heads and give us headaches. They scratch at our stomachs and make us hurt.

We must let them out. We must laugh and cry.

Then our bodies will be happy, and our feelings will curl up in our laps like happy puppies.