There are a lot of phrases we use that have subtle psychological effects on how we approach ourselves, others, and the world generally.
This page is a stub, created on 2020-04-07 (last updated on 2024-04-17). Its contents are notes on the issues and angles I want to address about this topic.
There are a lot of phrases we use that have subtle psychological effects on how we approach ourselves, others, and the world generally.
I've been thinking a lot about certain kinds of reframings that have been very helpful for me:
- "[X] makes me feel [Y]" → "I feel [Y] because [X] holds [Z] meaning for me" or "hearing [X], I feel [Y]"
- "endure" → "choose"
- "let go" → "sit with" or "let be"
- "allow" → "welcome" (with respect to feeling certain emotions; HT Dana Torres)
- "let myself [X]" → "direct myself [X]" or just "I [X]"
- "get past" → "work through"
- "fix" → "heal"
- "broken" → "wounded"
- "change" → "grow"
- "you [X]" → "I'm imagining you [X]" or "the story I'm telling myself is you [X]"
- "balance" → "integrate"
- "negative emotions" → "unpleasant emotions"
- "angry at" → "angry that" → "frustrated that"
- "work/life balance" → "work/non-work balance" → "work/non-work integration"