(part 2 of a series on Big Emotions)
This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes As an unexpected visitor.
Translated by Coleman Barks
Rumi’s poem asks us to be curious about our emotions, which show up each day each day, unexpected and often unwelcomed. Even the most terrifying of emotions – “a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture” – we are asked to respect, to invite them in, to meet them where they are. Each emotion, for Rumi, comes “as a guide from beyond,” helping us to understand ourselves and the world better.
This is such compassionate advice – asking us to recognize all the emotions we are experiencing and to not be ashamed of how we feel.
It’s hard advice too. Many of us have grown up in homes where only certain emotions are allowed – it was ok to be happy or excited, but not sad or anxious. Or maybe sadness was OK because it kept you from the anger you really were feeling. Or vice-versa.
The best thing we can do is to remain curious about what has entered our being-ness. What are we feeling in our bodies? What thoughts are coming up for us? What do we want to call this emotion?
By taking that pause, we remind ourselves that we are not our emotions.
Then welcome it. Welcome the joy, welcome the sadness.
Invite them in as the honored guest, guiding us to some new insight about ourselves and the world around us.