Catharsis: a process of transformation

We evolve one catharsis at a time. Catharsis triggers an internal release, an aha moment that can as subtle as a whisper or more like fireworks disrupting your whole life. Catharsis usually involves an epiphany, a transformative insight that breaks through your status quo consciousness.

Catharsis happens by staying with an emotion, a strong feeling about a person, idea or situation. It requires following that emotional trigger down the proverbial rabbit hole, until the emotion or thought pattern releases its hold and you have an epiphany that takes you to a new place of understanding.

It happens most often in dialog and less often alone. A cathartic moment usually involves a profound shift in beliefs and/or feelings, a shift that involves letting go of ideological and/or emotional baggage. In the void of the released energy, new possibilities and new truths show up.

The cathartic experience is visceral — you may feel a heightened sense of relief, clarity, or physical relaxation. It might tingle, or make you smile or take a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. Or it could be just a sense of your gut and your heart expanding as you relieve the burden of ideas and emotions that no longer serve.