Happy Again: The Power of Expressing Your Deep Emotions

While listening to the podcast called "Happy Again: The power of expressing your deep emotions" I thought I have to share this on my blog. It has been too quiet on my blog lately. The podcast is produced by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. Each week they challenge someone to try a research based practice. This time Sulyman Qardash is challenged to write about his emotions. He is the lead singer in Kabul Dreams, which is the first rock band from Afghanistan. Sulyman was 17 years old when he moved back to Kabul, Afghanistan and started the band. He was a refugee in Uzbekistan before moving back. He grew up as a cross culture kid. His music talks about growing up in Afghanistan. Displacement. The life of a refugee. The current political climate.

In the research based practice Sulyman is challenged to write about his deep emotions. He writes about loss. Listen to the podcast to hear all about it. Sulyman tells about growing up in different places. "My mom always used to say that, don’t don’t get too attached to things because you know that—because she had to be very upfront about that—yeah, you know that we’re gonna leave. That’s something that I was like okay, nothing is permanent for me." 

As you know I grew up abroad and moving and loss is something you have to deal with. I noticed similar themes. Growing up in Africa nothing seemed to be permanent for me either.

You can try the expressive writing challenge. I've done it and it has helped me. It is a simple and effective way to work through an emotional challenge. I would love to hear your thoughts on the expressive writing challenge or about the podcast.