"Hello, my spaghetti brain. I feel like a volcano today. I am taking time to process what I say and what I hear."

Does that sound familiar to you? Perhaps you’ve felt that chaotic, tangled feeling in your mind or the way anger or overwhelm can build up inside until you feel ready to erupt. If these expressions feel a little strange, that is perfectly okay. New ways of speaking often feel awkward at first. But if they ring true for you - if you have felt the spaghetti-tangle of anxiety or the pressure of a dormant volcano - then you are already tapping into a powerful tool for your healing journey.

What is a Metaphor?

A metaphor is simply a way of describing our inner world using images instead of literal labels. When we say we are feeling "sad," it’s a valid word, but it can feel a little flat. If you tell someone, "I feel like I am walking through an endless tunnel," you are suddenly telling them so much more. You are describing the weight, the isolation and the length of your struggle all in one breath.

Metaphors allow us to paint a picture of our emotional and physical states, making the invisible parts of our experience feel visible and understood.

Letting the Emotions Flow

We are emotional beings, and our feelings are an essential part of the landscape of who we are. We cannot - and should not - try to eliminate them. Instead, we want to learn how to channel them and let them move through us.

When we try to bottle up our emotions, they don't just disappear; they often manifest as anxiety, panic, sleepless nights or strain in our relationships. To experience joy, we must first learn to let our feelings flow.

A Tool for Your Practice

It takes incredible courage to be vulnerable. It isn't always easy to put words to our darker or more difficult days. But using metaphors can provide a "soft" landing for those big, heavy feelings. By shifting the focus from "I am bad" to "I am holding a storm," we create the space needed to work through it.

You can use this approach anywhere: in your conversations, in your journaling, through therapeutic writing or even in mind maps. When we allow our feelings to flow, we remove the blocks that keep us stuck, creating a sense of freedom that invites joy back into our lives.

An Invitation to Write

I use metaphors in my own life every single day; I find them to be a gentle, honest way to express what is happening beneath the surface. Here is a piece of my own therapeutic writing:

I am the light flickering in the shadow. The sun, the moon, the stars disappear. I am the light expanding in the shadow.  Expanding, Breathing, Loving, Caring. The light that never stops shining - the shadow disappears.

When I write this, I am not talking about physical light. I am talking about the goodness, the vitality and the capacity for love that lives within me, even when things are dark. The "shadow" represents the struggles and challenges that life inevitably brings. By caring for myself and sharing that goodness with others, I am able to move through the darkness, watching the struggles fade into the background.

It is a reminder that even when life feels heavy, I am still growing.

I invite you to try this for yourself today. Perhaps you can sit for a moment and ask: What is my heart trying to tell me right now? If you could describe your current state as a landscape, a season or an element of nature, what would it be?

Take your time. Healing is a practice and there is no rush.

Warmly,
Gintare
DipCouns. PGCERT in Relationship Counselling, MBACP

03/10/2024