How to Move Away from Distress

When chaos is illustrated it often looks like a compilation of colorful lines, crossing over one another, winding behind, in front, and in a way that leaves you wondering where the beginning and end are. With any kind of chaos: suffering, loss, or trauma, this scribble appears like a cloud above our heads, leaving us more disconnected- to ourselves and to others. Through our recovery period, one way to feel more connected is to ground ourselves. Sometimes, pulling ourselves into the present moment can help us sort through and organize all of the disorder- straightening out all of those twisting lines into something we can make sense of.

We’re bombarded with noise (i.e. from  people, society, and media) on a daily basis, and that noise tends to drown out the sounds we actually want to hear. Through various grounding exercises, we’re able to turn up the volume of our own voice. We can separate what’s important and of value to us from all the rest- illuminating some of these lines and casting a shadow on others.

There’s a term we talk about as family therapists called negentropy. It’s actually a statistical term that means creating order from chaos. When it comes to families, negentropy is the process by which a family restores itself back to a balanced state. For example: a family who has suffered a loss (chaos) may have to reorganize roles and responsibilities (order). We can look at our minds in much the same way. We need a balanced amount of openness (letting the “noise” get in) and closeness (a protective measure to keep certain information out). When we are more grounded, we’re more stable and can better adapt to the changes around us.

Stay Well,
Catherine at Revive