Have you ever passed by a trashcan that was overflowing with trash? Maybe you’ve even walked into your home or opened up your trash bin and it reeked of an ungodly odor. Hopefully you have a visual and a scent in mind. When I think about the trashcan, it reminds me of people who emotionally or situationally compartmentalize. To compartmentalize, simply means you separate or isolate something into parts or categories. Compartmentalizing can be done consciously or subconsciously. It is often done with emotions and undesirable thoughts and information. I know you are probably wondering, what this has to do with the trashcan. Well, initially compartmentalizing can be helpful as it can be used as a coping mechanism. But overtime, it can be hazardous just like an overflowing trashcan that smells as if something crawled in it and died. When we throw our emotions into our proverbial trashcan (i.e. tucking them away inside ourselves) and leave them unattended, over time, we don’t realize how much other stuff we’ve thrown on top of them. The emotions can become suppressed and restricted and left undealt with they can begin to spill over (like the flooded trashcan) in situations and towards people that we did not intend. The longer a trashcan sits unattended the more inviting it is to rodents such as rats and maggots. Similarly, the longer you go without properly attending to the emotions, thoughts, and information that you didn’t desire to attend to the greater the potential for you to subconsciously be creating the perfect dynamic for unhealthy behavior to manifest. The thing that you may have once used to help insulate and protect you has now created a barrier that traps you. This often happens when we experience loss or an emotion that we believe is too unbearable to process. Yet, what we don’t realize is that the longer we try to keep the lid on it, the more power we give it. It may be necessary to put on some long gloves and a facial mask and open the lid on that trashcan so that you sort through what’s within and properly address (dispose) of the things you didn’t want to deal with. The risk in not doing so is greater than the energy that you have given to trying to keep a lid on it. ~MGc
MG Consultation, LLC 