Until we become aware of it, our "normal" is usually similar to the emotional climate that we grew up in.

ART REHAB: Our emotional set-point is the habitual background feeling that we carry all through our lives, often without really recognising that it is there. We all have varying degrees of happiness and self-love that is our "normal." Until we become aware of it, our "normal" is usually similar to the emotional climate that we grew up in.

Take five minutes to close our eyes and go within. Our "normal" is often a hum of anxiety that covers up a predominant feelings of fear, anger, or sadness. Feel into the emotional state that is our unquestioned "normal." What is the ever-present emotional hum that runs under our days?


What colours and images would represent our "normal"? We find ourself colouring in many bright colours around a partial head. Our imagination is rich, but our "normal" emotional set-point was a general feeling of being withdrawn from a full engagement with our life. We fear being fully honest and expressive. Thats why we colour with full bright crayons.

Related articles

• We can become emotionally traumatised in early childhood
• We learn to recognise our child within, the function of loving-kindness is to soothe and relieve our difficult emotions.
• At the stages we need to acknowledge that for us it has become common to try to force ourselves to feel and act more mature than we actually are.
• At the Stages we acknowledge that to be present also means to ground ourself and not dissociate
• For victims of trauma, experts say, dissociation is often lifesaving.
• Especially at first as we engage with The Stages, we become more aware of our rampant thoughts and violent emotional swings.