Most of us have one or two emotions we'd rather not feel — grief, anger, envy, tenderness, a particular flavour of fear. We have small rituals for avoiding them: a busy schedule, a snack, a scroll, a 'productive' burst. This prompt asks you to name the emotions you most often avoid, with curiosity rather than judgement.
Knowing your avoidances is one of the kindest forms of self-knowledge.
Writing about the emotions you avoid makes your avoidances visible and gives you a chance to notice the costs of running from them. It also gently introduces the possibility that those emotions have something to tell you, and that meeting them, even briefly, might be more bearable than the constant low effort of dodging.
Useful in therapy weeks, after noticing a strong avoidance reflex (sudden cleaning, irritability, scrolling), or in seasons of overworking — which is often a polite way of not feeling things. Best done when you can give the writing a little space and follow it with something gentle.
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List two or three emotions you tend to avoid.
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For each, name the move you make to avoid it.
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Note what you might be afraid would happen if you felt it.
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Identify one small way to let one of them in, briefly.
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Write a kind sentence to the avoided emotion.
Other ways to ask the same thing
“Which feelings do you reflexively turn from?”
“What emotions does your day quietly route around?”
“What feelings are you in the habit of not feeling?”
It's tempting to write the 'acceptable' avoided emotions (sadness, fear) and miss the less flattering ones (envy, rage, neediness, longing). The less flattering ones are often the most useful to name. They're not character flaws; they're emotions, and they're trying to tell you something specific.
Avoided: envy, true sadness about my father, and longing for a kind of community I don't have. Avoidance moves: envy → I get suddenly judgemental of the person; sadness about my father → I become highly productive; longing for community → I scroll. What I'm afraid would happen if I felt them: envy would mean I'm ungenerous; sadness about my father would feel bottomless; longing would force a choice. Small way in: I'll let myself feel two minutes of sadness for my father this week, while making tea, without trying to 'process' it. Sentence to the avoided emotion: 'I'm sorry I keep running from you. I'll sit with you briefly. You don't have to be useful.'