Hhmm This Feels Familiar…
Aaarrrggh, Nooo! Demon! Demon!
It’s obviously far easier to open up when we can relate to others, it’s why we often value friendships over family because friends are our chosen family.
We relate in many ways. It’s about what’s familiar to us, not just in our likes and dislikes, opinions and beliefs. But far deeper than that, with love, happiness, sadness. How we feel and communicate both knowingly and unwittingly — shared experiences with similar outputs and perspectives.
All of which revolves around feeling safe. Being relatable is simply a reflection of self in someone else — and what feels more safe than that?? It’s deep and unconscious, and by feeling safe we’re more ‘ourselves’. Happy days.
But can you see the potential pitfalls? We relate to what *we* know and feel is right, wrong, true and safe (or not). How do we *know* that’s the right thing for us and our happiness?
Relating is influenced by experience, what’s shaped our ‘familiar’. We can easily become fixed in our minds, hearts and the people and things we’re drawn to. To what feels familiar (safe) — whether it is or not. With trauma, the lines can blur, making it incredibly difficult to accept, trust and relate to…
