Movie Suggestion: Inside Out

(Image borrowed from IMDB)

My husband suggested Inside Out to me. He said that it showed him why sadness is important. With my PTSD I am extreamly sensitive to many triggers and have avoided music, television and books for months. Thankfully with my new therapist and medication things have slowly changed. However, I still have to be careful. I was grateful that he suggested it. After watching it I felt that they got it right, and hopefully it'll help some people allow themselves to feel and others to allow people to feel.

For over ten years I have numbed myself emotionally after the rape. The pain was too much so I burried it within me. But one day I realized I couldn't hide from it anymore. I desperately wanted to feel love, and when I numbed I numbed everything - not just pain. To feel joy and love, I needed to feel pain. At one point after I began to stop fighting the flashbacks and let myself remember, my husband said to me "Why are you doing this to yourself?! You're in agony!" But I knew I had to. I had to remember and feel the pain so I could let it go.

I think this movie illustrated this concept in a great way. It even showed why my ability to be creative ... anything but numb was impossible. I was always in a state of survival, that's all that could function since I shut other emotions off.

My favorite line in the movie is "They came to help ... because of sadness." And for me this too was true. I have learned that by feeling my pain and sadness I needed help. And I reached out for it. I also have learned to appreciate my tears and the healing effects they have. By allowing myself to feel pain and experience sadness, I then open the door for joy and love.

Have you seen the movie? What are your thoughts? Did you see truth in it?