I guess I want to elaborate and say that the other thing that has given me a lot of relief is accepting my emotions. I'm trying to remember to acknowledge "little zoo" (my inner child) and tell her it's ok, everything is ok. And then I have created this sort of...I don't know what it is. A fantasy? I don't know where it came from. But: I imagine I'm in a big tent, like a circus tent or one they used in old fashioned revivals. I stand in the front and I just welcome my emotions in, one by one. Hello, my little fear. Hello, my little anger. Hello, my little grief. I just keep going and going until I can't think of any more.

Then I welcome the other ones. The dark ones that look like shadows. The invisible ones that you can't see except out of the corners of your eyes. The big huge ones that burn with fire. The frozen ones with the sharp edges. I welcome them all.

I tell them: come in. You are welcome. You are valid. You exist for a reason and you are part of this life. I hear you. I see you. I know you. Please, stay as long as you need to, and then let go. It's okay to go. You have served your purpose and I thank you.

And then, I watch them go. I don't push them away. I don't hide from them. If they need me to, I look at them. I embrace them. I thank them for doing their job. And I let them go.