RECOGNIZING AND HOLDING CONTRADICTORY EMOTIONS
The immediate aftermath of two years of pain and loss is a time of multiple, and even contradictory, emotions like joy, relief, and hope, as well as sadness, anger and more. This activity provides space to recognize, articulate and deal with the contradictory feelings that may be swirling in this moment.
Seasons of the Heart
On the intermediate Shabbat of Sukkot we read Kohelet (The Book of Ecclesiastes), which Jewish tradition ascribes to King Solomon. Kohelet takes a fatalistic view of life and famously talks about how there are designated seasons for all human emotions and activities.
Ecclesiastes 3
A season is set for everything,
A time for every experience under heaven:
A time for being born and a time for dying,
A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted…
A time for weeping and a time for laughing,
A time for wailing and a time for dancing…
A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war and a time for peace.
Kohelet suggests that each emotion, each act, has its proper time, and that we move from one to the next in order. The Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai disagreed.
….Keep reading and view the full, downloadable resource here.