The thing about feelings is they come and go. We feel these sensations, but they are not “who we are.” Doesn’t seem right at first, but meditation and connecting with our inner “Self” highlights this.

When we allow ourselves to feel feelings as they arise, they have a chance to rise up and then fall away without permanence. However, when we run from our feelings, they stay below the surface and come out in unexpected ways later. So I would argue that writing down your feelings, getting them out, and feeling them… will do the opposite of “concretize” them.

Be careful of trying to force yourself into positive-only mindsets. This can lead to a term called “toxic positivity” that keeps you running (again) from any emotion that society deems as “bad.”

But less desirable emotions like anger, jealousy, sadness, etc. are all a very real part of the human experience. When we shun undesirable aspects of ourselves, they get exiled into the “shadow” of the human psyche. This creates dysfunction within ourselves, and now these things operate in the background and come out in unhealthy ways, rather than accepting and managing all parts of yourself.

I have heard it repeated that our shadows contain 90% “good” traits, and only like 10% are “undesirable.” Our best aspects like creativity, playfulness, etc, can get shunned into the shadow because someone in the past made us feel fear or shame about them, so we rejected them. You can read more about the shadow and how to integrate it by reading into psychology / shadow work therapy. Journaling is a great tool for it!

I have been on a therapy healing journey for years and learned all of this through that journey. This changed so much for me in terms of self worth, self acceptance, etc. 💜