reclaiming anger

Let’s reclaim anger. Here’s what I mean:

In conservative religions, we are taught that anger is bad. Just like all emotions, anger is neither good nor bad. Also just like all emotions, if we welcome anger (instead of pushing it away for fear of it being “bad”), we can learn what anger is trying to tell us.

What can anger tell us? Brené Brown defines anger as “an emotion that we feel when something gets in the way of the desired outcome or when we believe there’s a violation of the way things should be.”

Let that sink in: anger comes up for us when we feel violated. Anger can indicate that we are are feeling wronged or harmed. Anger is our protector, looking out for us. Anger takes care of us & advocates for us.

Anger is not bad. Anger is not of the devil. Anger does not need to be prayed away. Anger does not need to be pushed down. Anger does not need to be replaced with charity.

Anger can be embraced. We can feel anger. We can learn from our anger. Our anger is just that—it’s ours. We can reclaim it for ourselves.

*You can read more of these posts on my instagram page, @religious.trauma.with.emilee