Hey there! We’ve all been hurt before, right? Whether it’s a friend who let us down, a family member who said something hurtful, or even something we did that we just can’t seem to forgive ourselves for. Holding onto these feelings slowly begins to weigh us down, and before we realize it, we are being crushed. Unforgiveness, specifically holding onto negative emotions towards our transgressor, has been considered less important for overall positive mental health and well-being in recent years (Singh et al., 2023). Why is this the case? Have we as a society determined that forgiveness does not play a crucial role in our overall mental health and well-being? Or is it possible that we may not fully understand forgiveness and its healing power? According to the American Psychological Association (APA), forgiveness is “willfully putting aside feelings of resentment toward someone who has committed a wrong, been unfair or hurtful, or otherwise harmed you in some way” (American Psychological Association). The interesting key to this definition lies in the use of the word “willfully.” Forgiveness is not merely accepting what happened or not being angry, it is a conscious decision that we all must make to put aside our feelings and learn to let go. Saying “I forgive you” to someone is all well and good but does it truly provide the relief we need
Flow: Tara's Story
When I asked Tara what she loved about ballet, she told me, “I was good. I wasn’t as good as Gelsey Kirkland, but I was good. It was something I was able to have confidence that I could do and I knew I was good at it. I’ve never put that much effort into anything in my life.” Her relationship with ballet was clearly a very emotional and fulfilling one: one that gave her confidence in herself. She described ballet as an art that grounds you and connects you so deeply through your body that you can’t focus on anything else. In other words, Tara experienced flow through ballet.