Well, I bit the bullet and created a blog. I’ll be honest and say that over the last decade, I have fallen far, far away from the world of social media. In my late 20s, I found that the internet became less a place of exploration and connection and more a place of unhealthy comparisons and materialism. Alas, here I am, attempting to reconnect with my love for writing while also shamelessly promoting my counseling private practice, Cassidy Counseling LLC (*nudge nudge*… cassidycounseling.com). More than anything, though, this is a space for me to share a piece of my inner self with you. Writing can provide such a beautiful way of offering a glimpse of who a person really is, something we don’t tend to get through verbal expression alone.

I call this blog **Being Human** because that’s exactly what it is – a discussion of the human experience through the eyes and perspective of a licensed therapist (and a human too, obviously). I love the idea of creating a blog rather than an Instagram or Facebook page. There’s just something more intimate about words on a page without the ads and annoyances of an algorithm.

I guess I’ll start by asking, “How are you feeling?”

That tends to be how I begin most of my therapy sessions. It’s a complicated and annoying question, isn’t it? Ugh. Feelings. What even are feelings?

According to the first result on a Google search:

> “Emotions are multi-faceted experiences” of “internal subjective experiences, facial expressions, and physiological reactions. Feelings, both emotional experiences and physical sensations — such as hunger or pain — bring about feelings. Feelings are a conscious experience, although not every conscious experience, such as seeing or believing. Emotions can only ever be felt through the emotional experiences they give rise to, even though they might be discovered through their associated thoughts, beliefs, desires, and actions. Emotions are not conscious but instead manifest in the unconscious mind. These emotions can be brought to the surface of the conscious state through extended psychotherapy.”

Whew. That’s a lot. As are the feelings and emotions we experience as humans every second of every day. From my perspective, how we feel is so complicated, so layered, that at times we are unable to identify or express it adequately. I’ve found during my time as a therapist that many clients immediately answer the question, “How are you feeling?” with external explanations of the human experience: “My partner, my job, my parents… etc.” It is so much easier to cloak our deepest, most personal emotions/feelings with the pieces and people that represent our existence rather than exploring our internal existence itself.

Therapy can be so beneficial because it encourages us to shift that external perspective and go on a strange and wonderful field trip into the complexities of what it means to be you. You might be saying to yourself, “Wow Laura, you’re saying I’m messed up?” – and my answer is yes! The beauty is that we all are, in one way or another. When we can embrace that fact, we can move towards truly answering the question, “How are you feeling?” with a raw and authentic approach. Sometimes starting by identifying a physical sensation we’re experiencing can be beneficial to shifting our focus internally. Tension in our shoulders and jaw? Maybe we’re feeling angry, scared, or overwhelmed. There is a huge benefit to the practice of linking our physical sensations to our emotional experiences – it increases our awareness of our internal world and how it operates. It provides information about how the nerve cells in our body respond to the human experience.

The Wheel of Emotions can also be a useful tool in beginning to answer the question of what we are feeling. The practice of being as specific as possible in identifying our emotions provides an increased awareness and understanding of ourselves beyond just the external window we so often look through. I encourage you to begin your own practice, whether you are working with a therapist or solo, to start identifying and becoming intentional in your awareness of your physical sensations and exploring the specific emotions those sensations may be connected to. Together, let’s move away from watching the movie of our lives as an audience member and into the director’s chair of fully experiencing our true human existence. Happy feeling!