Annie writes:
Does Self-in-Presence have/contain life forward energy? If not, where does life forward energy come from… parts?
Dear Annie:
Life-forward energy is a property of your whole organism. As Gene Gendlin used to say: “Life wants to live!”
When we are in touch with our life-forward energy, we are curious, creative, connecting with others, sad about loss, outraged at unfairness, tickled at what is funny… we have the full range of life, as well as the body feeling of it all.
Why is it called life-forward energy instead of just life energy? Because life is always living forward… wanting, exploring, resting, liking and disliking, affiliating and choosing… there is always a next step, as long as we are alive. This is an essential property of all of life. Not only that there is a next step, but that your body knows what next step would be right.
When you inhale, your body knows that exhaling is next, and exhaling would be right. (Breathing is a great example of life-forward energy!)
Your parts have life-forward energy too… but locked up, or misdirected. The part of you that keeps doing an addictive behavior, or keeps getting terribly hurt at small slights… these are parts that are trying to live forward but can’t because there is a stoppage, a tangle.
When they untangle, they too can contribute their piece of your life-forward energy to your whole life flowing forward. Oh boy!
