SALT:

Karen Blixen wrote: “The cure for anything can be found in salt water; sweat, tears, and the sea.”  The value of sweat and sea are straightforward: ‘sweat’, the catharsis in moving your body, or laboring for something worthy of your effort, taking action.  ‘Sea’: in a literal sense, the healing properties from immersion in water are as old as civilization. And in an existential sense, to borrow from another famous lady of literature: “What are men to rocks and mountains?” Outdoor enthusiasts know well: great perspective can be found simply by being present in nature. 

But in my work as a therapist I often find our valuation of tears- or feelings in general- to be more complicated for one reason or another. When it comes to our emotional well-being, there is no substitute for a collaborative therapeutic relationship. Participating in mental health therapy allows us the ability to identify, explore, exist in, and ultimately move through our feelings with intention and understanding. In therapy, we have the opportunity to share our stories without fear of judgment and with every expectation of unconditional positive regard. And to quote Blixen once more, “All sorrows can be borne if we put them into a story.”