I’m just a person navigating this world. I post a lot of information about emotions, about ways of thinking, and I’m even dabbling in some insights about intentional living. What are my credentials (you might ask)?

Some people believe that thoughts and ideas need a paper credential to support their validity. Sometimes that is very true. However, I think there is a life credential that sometimes gets overlooked. There is deep value in life experience, and I don’t know of any formal credentials for that. I ask you though, does your life experience teach you? I’m taking a guess here, but I think your experiences have taught you valuable lessons about how to behave, how to stay safe, and maybe even how to care for yourself. My experience has taught me things, too.

What we learn from our experiences varies. I think we can make assumptions about what we learn from experiences. Some of those are sound and rooted in goodness, and others might be worth re-examining to validate our beliefs about ourselves and others. Professional guidance is helpful on our varied life journeys. Other times, though, I think our experience can exact a credential that comes solely from experience.

I’m getting ready to release a memoir that is a deeply personal story about being kidnapped and raped as a teenager. In that book, I share relatable pieces of information about my journey to become who I am today; a whole, beautiful, loving person. My credentials on the subject? My life experience. Professionals helped me get to where I am today, and so did my stubborn determination. That determination was pure survival through some of that, but it was also my determination to grow the rose inside of me. The wisdom I share comes mainly from the raw, personal experience of this unspeakable trauma.

About these emotions, it is my experience as a human being who is open to investigating the value of our emotions that brings me to my point of expertise. The concept of emotions carries with it a context of ‘ooooh, don’t talk about those’ that I want to change. From my personal experience, I’ve learned these emotions are a major portion of the fuel that propels us in life. Why not learn a little more about them instead of running away from the horror of them? Emotion is not a dirty word (though some believe it wholeheartedly).

Think about the people who are important to you. Do they run away from emotions, or do they embrace them? Anger, tears, laughter, joy, and all. People who know themselves emotionally steer their hearts in a way that connects them to caring and loving behavior. They make empathic choices because they connect to their emotional selves. Well, that’s my hypothesis. I’m just a little person in this world navigating through my life experiences.

That’s about all I have to say about that. (Right now.) If your left brain desires some more information about this, check out this article on Ambiguous Credentials. Otherwise, keep on livin’ and learnin’.

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay