How often have you seen peeling paint and realized that
something isn’t right…either the paint has aged or there’s something going on
with the surface on which the paint was applied… perhaps, there was no primer paint used or
perhaps there was some rotting wood or seepage of some sort going on. In any
case, if repairs are to be made that will last more than a season, one needs to
get down to the inner parts of that house or object that needs to be painted.
So also, it is with people. How often do we go around with a
plastic or practiced smiley face which hides the truth of the feelings and
fears and thoughts that we hold inside? Or, worse, how many people aren’t even
aware of the thoughts and feelings that cause them to show forth internalized
symptoms that come across, at times, as “peeling paint”… odd behaviors,
eruptions of anger, un-understandable fears, terror, etc. triggered by
something from their past that has been so deeply hidden that they are not even
aware of it?
One type of person like this might be someone with PTSD and
repressed memories who, when experiencing a present event or hearing of one,
ends up with triggered memories that have been deeply internalized and shows up
as symptoms of great fear and terror, extreme sadness or grief, or a myriad of
other emotions that surface without reason.
So, as in handling peeling paint and working on the
foundation, so also, these people need to become more and more aware of their internalized
symptoms that begin to manifest as bodily feelings and emotions they hardly
know how to define or identify, but once they do, these old, old feelings, like
rotten wood, can be replaced with feelings in the here and now and, as wood or
a foundation that is repaired, so also a person with internalized symptoms can
begin to see healing of their soul and enjoy the myriad of feelings and
emotions and the development of an integrated self – of body, mind, and soul,
and enjoy the rainbows of emotional colors and thoughts, and live in and enjoy
the present moment, living in relationships with others, without the anchor and
hooks to the past that once kept them in a pit of despair and hopelessness.
Precious Linda – 2013
Written with the
prompts of “peeling paint” and “internalized symptoms” for 12 minutes at my
Practice Writing Group.
