The Missing Experience

what do you mean “what do you do?” with those feelings?

When I did an internship some years back at a public agency in Point Reyes, one of my supervisors was Hiram Elliot. I admired what I imagined was his solidity. I pictured him sitting in a chair, facing the other person, and responding to whatever they said with, “and what are you feeling?” “and where do you feel it in your body?” and repeatedly asking, “and what do you do with those feelings?”

I asked that of some people and they didn’t know what I was talking about.

What do you do with your feelings?
The word “do” is an odd one, as if there is a separate entity called the doer.
So, what do you do with your feelings? Do you hold them in the palm of your hand? Do you fold them up? Do you throw them against a wall? Do you wash them down? Do you give them a voice? Or do you just observe them? Equanimously, of course.

Like everyone, I have different sides. Counselor, photographer, writer, cooker of food – both spicy and plain, and seeker of truth and happiness. I have always taken an interest in the unassuming things that pass us by – both heard and seen, both ordinary and not so ordinary. They are all sacred and beautiful in some way.

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