If you’ve gone through anything resembling a catharsis—a complete re-examination of your identity, purpose or worth—you might remember a possibly chaotic emotional state right before this deep self-cleaning began. Those emotions—including total repentance and longing for a fresh start—may have been strong motivation for you to move beyond the dead-end of an unsatisfying self-concept or lifestyle.
During that emotional pandemonium, there might also have been a quiet, insistent voice that invited you to begin focusing and purging. An experience with something or someone that nudged you toward the honesty that was necessary for your catharsis to begin.
In these times, many of us—perhaps the entire society?—are living in a chaotic emotional state, perhaps feeling close to despair about the storms inside of us. We may realize that we need to be saved from ourselves, so therefore willing to do what it takes to clean out and reorder our lives. We may be ready to ask and answer important questions that are necessary for any emptying-out and refilling to proceed.
We can be grateful for the people whose words might tip us toward the redemptive liberation of a catharsis. We might also be the nudgers/tippers who help others take steps toward purging themselves of what’s ruining their well-being. Our nudging can be gentle, honest and encouraging, tinged with hope and grace.
Part of my hope extends to national leaders who might just be near the ends of their ropes or trapped by their own rhetoric. It feels possible that small nudges from people like you or me could be the impetus for catharses that ripple redemptively throughout our nation. Inside heartfelt conversations and communications, our quiet words could be helpful.
These frenzied times call for our cathartic nudging!
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