When you're having an emotional breakdown
“SO, LET GO, LET GO JUMP IN OH WELL, WHAT YOU WAITING FOR? IT’S ALL RIGHT ‘CAUSE THERE’S BEAUTY IN THE BREAKDOWN”
~FROU FROU
Is there beauty in the breakdown?
Not all of life’s lessons are “pretty,” of course, we all know that. They come disguised as tough ongoing relationships, painful breakups, humiliations and shame, “mistakes” and I could go on.
There are so many ways in which the light of enlightenment is switched on, so many ways to wake up. Yes, pain as a part of the process, but are we supposed to find some sort of pleasure in all of that pain?
That sounds backwards If we enjoy the pains of life, does that mean we are the type of person who enjoys and seeks out drama? Good question to ask.
First, let’s examine drama. Drama contains a trauma or “problem,” as well as the solution. Like a weekly TV series, a movie with a juicy plot and a lot of excitement or even a soap opera. it tends to repeat.
Same story, different players, same lessons waiting to be learned yet a resistance or blind spot around the star’s role in creating that situation. There is usually a pinch or two of victimization, and always a villain.
In struggle we keep coming up against a barrier and we hit these upper limits over and over again. We can feel battered. It can activate pain, determination, hopelessness, hopefulness, apathy, frustration and the list goes on.
We can also find those things in drama, when we are enacting a drama we tend to be unconscious about it, we are swept up in the story, we enjoy it even. It brings us attention, sympathy or something else we think we need. Yes, there is struggle, but the struggle is a part of something else.
We have all played parts in dramas, in a way, life in the physical body is dramatic and we learn through stories. The trick is to become aware of and learn to embrace the drama, live it out and see it through to the end. Realize that though you are a player in the story of your life, you are also the writer!!
Here are 8 ways to find beauty in struggle and drama:
1~ Mindfulness…Commit yourself to becoming aware of the prolific drama in your life. Drama is not a bad word, it is simply a part of the human experience.
You can navigate through the dramas and create transformational movies, or we can get stuck in soap operas that are the same today as they are 5 years from now.
Each night before bed go through your day and replay the story of the day. Who were the players, what part did you play. What were the struggles? What plot line threaded through the day. Just notice.
2~Writing…Write it out creatively using fictional characters, create poetry.
Try to write a haiku (or a few lines) a day to reflect the mood you experienced through the day. You would be surprised at how many things can be communicated through even a short piece of writing.
Keep these together in a file or notebook. You’ll want to refer back to them at a later date.
3~Visual arts… paint, collage, draw and doodle out the themes of the day if you tend to be a visual thinker.
You can express a lot through your choice of colors, the mood of your art (scribbles or gently brush strokes) You can even mix it up and combine the writing with the visual arts.
4~Review time…Monthly, or quarterly… review your art journals and reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re going.
Don’t do this kind of review daily though, I recommend waiting for the larger picture to emerge so you can see the drama and grasp the bigger outlook.
It’s easy to get mired down in the details and never able to see your way out. We can’t achieve what we can’t see.
5~Commit to upleveling your life… Level up and out of the spiraling repetitive patterns! You don’t want to be in the same episode next year, do you?
Even if it’s a beautiful love story, things morph and shift and change. Commit to the changes that are inevitable to carry you up into new levels of consciousness and learning.
6~ Find an outside perspective… It can be a mentor or coach, a counselor, a trusted friend who is not involved in the current story.
No defensiveness, talk with the intention of being open to their observations about you and your story. Be open to what they say, take it in.
Realize that it’s their opinion, but it’s also valuable to be open to someone else’s perspective, it is powerful to listen without being defensive. This is a great practice!
7~ Stop resisting!! Reclaim the word “drama” it doesn’t have to be an insult (though it is often used that way.)
It’s ok to be a “drama queen” embrace it, disarm the insult that’s there in that statement and laugh as you uplevel your way into an award winning transformation where you end up a changed soul…
8~ Don’t be typecast… move on to new and more beautiful roles. Realize that as humans on this Earth path, we are ALL playing roles!
The resistance to that fact is part of the pain in struggle. Don’t stay the ‘damsel in distress’ or the “Bella”, become the powerful “Katniss” who prevails in the end a transformed character ready for what comes next!
So, when we consciously decide to embrace our story and make it ok to be in the midst of a “drama” it’s possible to experience the beauty of ALL of what life has to offer.
There is as much beauty in teardrops as there is in laughter!
Look at the art that moves us. It comes in all shades and moods.
Find the beauty in the breakdown and liberate yourself.
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Kelly St Claire is a Certified Life and Holistic Nutrition Coach through the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, and Master Hair Designer/Beauty Stylist for over 25 years.
She helps people change negative self- perceptions around their bodies, connect with a healthy lifestyle, and reinvent their beauty.
She found her way through a deep journey of depression, distorted body image, destructive relationship with food and lack of self-confidence through integrating creativity, spirituality and a focus on physical, mental and emotional health.
She works with Fitness, Nutrition, Creativity, Supplements, and Self Discovery and is 100% committed to helping you!!!
She lives in Richmond, VA where she offers personal beauty care services. She offers health, fitness and wellness coaching.
She has a 25-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter and loves on her two black cats and her fuzzy, white puppy <3