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Our sadness is an energy we discharge in order to heal. …Sadness is painful. We try to avoid it. Actually discharging sadness releases the energy involved in our emotional pain. To hold it in is to freeze the pain within us. The therapeutic slogan is that grieving is the ‘healing feeling.’
John Bradshaw
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Sadness is a necessary process for emotional healing.

John Bradshaw's quote emphasizes the importance of experiencing and expressing sadness as a vital part of healing from emotional pain. He suggests that rather than avoiding sadness, we should confront it, as discharging our sadness allows us to release pent-up energy and ultimately facilitates our journey toward healing. Grieving, he argues, is essential to feeling better, transforming our pain into a therapeutic process.

Themes

SadnessHealingGriefEmotional PainDischarge

In practice

Example use cases

Sharing this quote during a support group for those dealing with loss.

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