New Emotions, Old Lessons

I have written a lot about old emotion and belief energy elicited by new events that the brain perceives or recognizes as threatening. This is the experience of trauma as I see it, though there are several layers to this game. There is the inherited animal-survival brain wired to scan for danger and threat, the ancestral lineage of generations past, the soul trauma of past lives and karmic lessons re-enacting. You might think how could one possibly sort through this mess. The gift is such that one not need go digging for the origins of each event because Spirit has a way of bringing all that needs to be addressed right to your door. All that is meant to be addressed in divine time and readiness is re-enacted for your viewing “pleasure” in the present. The brain has learned to perceive new situations as old ones and, therefore, triggers the same alert signals it did in the past. As a result, the emotions that were not processed during past events re-emerge in the present and appear attached to the current events. I will add that, from my spiritual perspective, not only does the brain perceive current events in this way but the energetic frequency you are vibrating at actually attracts circumstances similar to the one you are still learning from. Additionally, the beliefs that shaped as a result of the earlier circumstances re-emerge in the present and reinforce the current situation as a representation of the past. All of these elements – the brain, the energetic frequency, the emotions, the beliefs – contribute to an experience of interpretation that draws on outdated programming. I have often stated that the emotions that show up in a given moment are not new nor are they inherent to the situation, they are old stored emotions that have not yet had the opportunity to be effectively processed and released.

However, this begs the question of where emotions originate and if there are circumstances in which new emotions form and are elicited. The obvious answer is “Yes,” of course there are new emotions. Not only do you carry lineages of trauma and early life experience in your body, but you are exposed to new challenges on a daily basis, just like you and your ancestors were in the past. Experiences of loss, violence, abandonment, and isolation are all examples of challenging experiences that may be elicited by any number of daily circumstances. The question remains what combination of old and new belief energy is showing up in any given moment? How much is newly formed versus old storage. Here is where I will separate from more traditional modes of psychological thought and veer off into spiritual territory. As far as I understand, psychological theory would ultimately have you decipher which one it is, old or new. For example, is this romantic breakup a re-enactment of abandonment issues from your father or simply a traumatic experience with a challenging partner dynamic. This logic seems unreasonable to me. All situations re-enact the past. The new situation is not interpreted by a blank slate ready to be painted over only by the colors of experience, not even at birth. You are already carrying emotion and belief energy in addition to a brain that is wired to perceive new situations through an outdated lens. Furthermore, all circumstances through the spiritual lens are preordained medicines concocted via the mystical stew of universal alchemy and served up in perfect dosage for your highest growth and understanding. Each person, circumstance, conflict, and “bad day” is a medicine. There are no mistakes, no wasted time, and no “unlucky.” All is influenced by karmic inheritance. You might say, well what about free will. Good question. From my perspective, you have the freedom to resist what is being brought to your attention, though likely it will keep coming and you will remain stuck until you choose to surrender to the medicine and release the associated trauma. In this very concept of free will lies my answer for the formation of new emotion and belief energy. My sense is that no new emotions and beliefs form that are qualitatively different from old patterns, but that new ones of the same ilk may be re-enforced by repeated patterns and cycles when one is in a state of reactivity and resistance. Say that you are wrestling with grief over an early childhood loss and have resisted processing such emotion state. Any new experience of loss will be technically new but only in the sense that it is a new opportunity to heal. Each time you resist, reject, disavow, ignore, or escape the opportunity, you are reinforcing this old wound, like scratching open a cut that you will not let heal. You see the body wants to heal, all you must do is get out of the way. The thinking mind or ego is incessant upon escaping such feelings and deems them a threat to survival, thereby colluding with the brain to escape at all costs. In doing so, you allow the “new” formation of traumas to build on the foundation of old ones. Therefore, it is possible that new grief or sadness is shaped by the loss of a loved one, and yet, it is also the opportunity to process old grief and sadness. The mind body experience represents both the old emotion and belief energy that has not yet been released, in addition to the new emotion energy forming layers of scar tissue over an unhealed wound. The good news is as many times as you re-open the wound and refuse to give it space, you will always be invited back, such is the nature of healing.

The list of present opportunities to re-enact old pain is endless, all propagated by the thinking mind. The reactive thought energy to unfolding events triggers the formation of new emotions and beliefs based on outdated programming. Like a computer scanning the world through the lens of a virus, all input is grist for more of the same. However, you have the power to change your thoughts, and with that, transmute your emotions and unlearn your beliefs. You have the power to see your true nature, which extends far deeper than these surface level patterns. Only once you see the truth can you begin to decode the virus of the ego and its attachment to the traumatized self. Every situation presents an opportunity to learn from, be with, and move through whichever emotion or belief shows up as a result of the moment. The present is a medicine, maybe a sour tasting one at that, but an invitation all the same to make a different choice. In making this choice, you chart a new path not only for yourself but for the lineage of ancestors you carry and the many lives of your soul’s past. You are the greatest iteration of your Self to date and have the power to shed more of the old than ever before. The question of old or new is less important than seeing the moment as an opportunity – an invitation – to be with what shows up regardless of where it originated. The journey is not really about parsing out each piece of trauma with a neat label and origin story, but more so a willingness to be with the layers of sediment as they grace you with their presence and wash away, revealing a deeper truth of being in their wake. The older the layer, the more intense and attached the energy will likely be, signaling you that this is emerging from the root. Either way, the only way forward is through compassion and love, the only prayer is forgiveness. So be with it like the wind and know you are moving closer to the Light with every cycle of tension, every ebb, and every dark night. When the morning comes and the sun shines again, you will recognize an even greater ability to harness the light-filled emotion and belief energy that serves your highest self, intention, and vision.