Experience the Feeling

From the Restored Order Tarot, the Queen of Cups; from the Oracle of Kabbalah, Lamed:

Lamed painting by Victor Brindatch

This Queen of Cups looks a little sad, yet she only dips one toe in the sea. I can hear Pema Chodron in my head saying "feel your feelings, but drop the story line." Most of us either try to distract ourselves from them because to lean into them can be frightening. Others may wallow in their feelings, not really paying attention to them but simply creating self-pity. We tend to self-identify with our emotions (and the thoughts they create), as if this transient feeling is who we are, the entire color of our life. It becomes frozen within us. Lamed is the tallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet and means to teach or learn. It's shape resembles a staff to guide animals, suggesting being prodded in the right direction. It is a reminder that when feelings seem to overwhelm us we can remember that they are only intense energy that momentarily floods the body; without adding fuel from our thoughts, they will pass.

All we need to do is allow ourselves to experience the energy—and in time it will move through you. It will. But we need to experience the emotion—not think about the emotion. ~Pema Chodron