Читать книгу The Way of Nowhere: Eight Questions to Release Our Creative Potential - Nick Udall - Страница 59

It seems inevitable that in the process of being born and growing up, we encounter difficult situations that we must adjust to or learn to live with. If only this emotional ‘stuff’ stayed in the past where it started, it would be fine. Unfortunately it tends to rule our present in a way that most of us are only vaguely aware of. The South invites us to understand these pervasive influences and realize that whilst negativity and conflict, both inner and outer, are a natural part of human life, such emotions break our contact with our creative life force. To evoke the creative potential of ourselves and of those around us we need to bring these emotions to the surface and release the energy that they otherwise consume.¹

Much of what we think and feel is profoundly influenced by our memory. Thus the past influences our thoughts and emotions in the present. Both thoughts and emotions generate physical sensations, and we respond to those sensations in the way we behave. So emotional mastery begins by understanding how these memories first occurred. Then and only then can we begin to see the emotional patterns for what they are – patterns – and choose not to unconsciously collude with them. It is even possible to work at a deeper level and to alter memories themselves, thus changing the whole pattern from the one we got to the one we want (see page 171). In this way we release the hold of the past.

This work of self-awareness enables us to access the power of trust and optimism. With these positive emotions we can live on the edge of our comfort zones and release fear's hold, trusting in our ability to live with uncertainty.