Perna's wisdom hits it right on the head for me. That is exactly what has happened for me. I have spent so much energy holding feelings inside for decades that when I finally did release some of my feelings in therapy, I had so much energy for other things in life. A lot of stress and tension was relieved that I didn't even know was there. It's like trying to be a dam and holding back the river. Exhausting.

It has been very healing to feel some of those things from the past. I have also been trying hard not to immediately stuff present day feelings deep inside. I don't want to waste energy holding those inside either. I don't want to add to the backlog and wait to release them in several years time or perhaps never. So I try to feel today's feelings today and little by little, release the past ones. Some day I will be all caught up.

This kind of therapy is a lot of work, velcro, and can be painful. But for me, at least, it has been worth it.