The All Knowing Gnome

I have spent many an evening sitting gazing into a torch flame this month, holding a metal mandrel in one hand and a rod of Italian Glass in the other. 

I have been on a rollercoaster ride of emotions whilst connecting with my creativity.  From the joy of enticing the molten glass to transform into beautiful beads and characters, to the destructive frustration, fear, shock and sadness when strange blobs, and fireworks of exploding shards happen!

During these processes it is always helpful to remember that emotions come and go like little waves on the shore, along with the occasional challenging destructive death-defying humungous ones too!  They do not define us and make us who we are, but merely reflect how we are feeling at one moment in time.

It is good to know that the discomfort will not last forever!  That is, unless for some reason, we find ourselves stuck in them…

Have you, as a child, heard the saying “children should be seen and not heard”???  Or maybe you have said it yourself as an adult? 

Or maybe observed a child having a “tantie” in the middle of a shopping centre being glared or tutted at from passersby, as a red faced parent tries miserably to drag them somewhere more ‘convenient’, or to shush them up someway or another.

Are the parents at fault?  Or can they be excused because they are simply tired, busy, disconnected, troubled, etc etc? Do they need some nurturing themselves?  Orange is a wonderful colour for nourishing, the colour of the sacral chakra in the belly, where all creation begins…     

Have you yourself been stuck in an emotion of shame for example, over something in your past, or are you currently experiencing a paralyzing fear from anything ‘unknown’?

Why on earth would it be ‘a sign of weakness’ by showing our emotions?

Or a derogatory label to be written off as “she’s emotional”?

Why would a man need to hide his emotions deep deep down for fear of being seen as “weak” or “not real man”?

Emotions are a little like poo… yes poo!  That brown stuff is part and parcel of life, a normal function that is essential to daily (hopefully!) excrete our waste to be healthy.  And menstrual blood, another essential part of a female’s monthly cycle to excrete, to cleanse, to maintain alkalinity, hormone levels etc. 

Both appear to be somewhat taboo to speak of, and hidden away, depending on our upbringing.  However both, like emotions need to be known about, talked about, looked after, nurtured, understood, to ensure optimum health.

So, how do we know how to look after our physical and emotional health for ourselves on a daily basis?  How do we know when to seek help and who to seek help from?  Do we need permission to look after our own health and wellbeing?  Are we capable of knowing how to really look after ourselves so we feel good, clean and healthy every day?  We are the only ones who can truly know ourselves and our needs.

…Enter Gnome, stage left! (the left side of our body can be related to our relationship with ourselves which is so important for emotional and physical health.)

Meet my newly created bead baby, birthed from the fire like a little phoenix rising out of the ashes… the Knowing Gnome… here to help and shine a light on our intuition… “Hello!”

See his colour… blue… the colour of ‘water’ from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, which relates to the bladder and kidney.  Any waterwork disturbances tend to be linked to control and Trust, our seat of Knowing.

Our own knowing Gnome can help us to identify when we are feeling unsafe, out of control, fearful, frightened or ‘pissed off’!  Note the emphasis on ‘feeling’, because they are emotions, they come and go, they do not belong to us, making us who we are. 

Our physical feelings…. The kicked in the guts feeling, the butterflies in the tummy, the tingly excited feelings, the stabbing discomfort, the tension, the ‘gut-intuition”, when we are aware of them, we are free to let them come and go, providing us with the messages we need to know at that time.  Letting us be aware of how something makes us feel, what button some event or person is pushing in us, can provide us valuable information to do something about it, the more practise we get, the easier it becomes!

It can be possible to regain our abilities to feel in ourselves when an area is getting tight and tense, so we can give that area attention.  By relaxing and breathing into it, can give us a chance to know how we can help ourselves, alone or with someone. 

A daily regime for looking after ourselves with deep breathing, clean water, nutritious food, daily elimination, exercise and emotional wellbeing can help us stay healthy.  Overall, aiming to simply keep our physical and emotional system clean, to regain the flow of fluids and energy, and excrete all waste we do not need anymore.

I invite you to get to know yourself… next time you are feeling any of these emotions… pay attention to your inner all Knowing Gnome… take a moment to deep breathe… and start to sink down into your body.  Notice what sensations belong to each emotion.  For those of you who love researching, take a gander at neuropeptides, its fascinating how the body affects the brain and vice versa.

I invite you to have a play with your emotions, find out how they make you feel in what part of your body, and how best to express them fully. Turquoise is a great colour to help with expressing ourselves…

Set that child free who was unable to express themselves because of how it would look to others.

Find your key that unlocks those festering emotions that have been trapped deep deep inside of you.  Empower yourself with the ability to find a safe way of releasing them gently with the assistance of a caring qualified professional enabling healing, slowly allowing love and trust back in.  Always ask yourself, get to know yourself, when it is safe to unpack unpleasant stored emotions and events yourself, and when it is safer to enlist professional help. 

We all need help, it is manly, nurturing, safe and courageous to acknowledge we have these emotional needs.

Have a play with being creative to healthily express those emotions you may not have been able to growing up.  Sing, belly laugh, write/journal, cry, throw a tissue, dance, draw, finger paint, make something, roll around on the floor with flailing arms and legs!  Give yourself permission to do whatever it takes to get those emotions out/released/expressed, those long term trapped ones or current felt ones, clean up your emotional wellbeing.

Notice how you feel before, at the time of, then after you’ve expressed them.  Remember, your little knowing gnome inside of you knows what will make you feel better, you just have to allow yourself to listen to the whispers of needing assistance, before they become shouts of despair!