Picture the scene I witnessed last week...rush hour, traffic cones, reduced speed, and very annoyed drivers. I'm slowly approaching the traffic cones when I see two men in full Hazmat suits grappling with a large hose. Ooooh what could this be I think and assume meerkat pose. Just as I draw alongside, the Hazmat men reach for the coupling in the middle of the hose and bam! sh*t explodes everywhere! It's spewing from the hose like a fire hydrant on full blast, running all over the street, and the Hazmat men are bearing the brunt. They are trying desperatley to contain the flow as quickly as I'm trying to contain some fresh air in my car before the smell finds my vents!
The unfortunate containment breach was certainly a sight to behold and made me think how fortunate I was to be driving past rather than cleaning up!
Later that day the relevance of containment and containment breaches in our own lives came to me.
How much emotional sh*t have you kept contained in the past, or are currently containing? How strong are those containment seals? How hard is it to maintain those containment seals in good order? Are you exhausted by the maintenance? Is the sh*t about to hit the fan or have you already experienced a containment breach?
Personally I have experienced both containment and containment breaches. Ultimately the breaches have proved to be liberating. They needed to happen in order for me to face the things I was containing.
Yes it was messy at times, very messy if truth be told, but with each spillage the pressure lessened until it felt like the containment was finally released.
Why do we feel the need to contain? Influencing factors include belief systems instilled from family or peer groups, fear of being judged, of being a failure, of not pleasing, of not providing, of being found out when we are not living authentically, shame, humiliation, anger, guilt, fear, fear, fear...it's all fear driven.
Here's the good news! It's ok to have a containment breach! In fact we need them in order to see what needs to be seen. If we contain the sh*t it infects every thought, feeling and action and in that process of living through sh*t covered thoughts, feelings and actions we attract more sh*t.
Ultimately you have to see it to own it and just like the Hazmat men, some days you just need to look sh*t straight in the eye!