College Experience Journal Entry #8

College Experience Reflective Journal Entry #28 Oct 12, 10

1. A time that I have felt anger recently was yesterday evening.  I was unsure whether Mom would be back in time for me to have the car so I wouldn't have to cross the highway in the dark to get home from school, so I asked Dad if he would take me to class if Mom got back late.  He was sitting at his computer, burning CDs for a friend, and he told me to walk to class.  Mom has told me that she would rather I not cross the highway at night, and has been either driving me to class, or letting me use the car to get to class.  I was upset that Dad would not take the five or so minutes it would have taken to grab his keys and wallet, unlock the truck, and drive me to school.  I ended up walking and getting about halfway to school when Mom met me coming the other way.  I explained to Mom why I was upset with Dad, and wrote Dad a letter telling him how I felt about the situation that I deleted after I had calmed down. 2. Strategies that I can use in the future when I get angry are writing my feelings down, cleaning something that needs cleaning, or going for a long walk. Writing my feelings down would help me deal with the anger in a positive way by getting the feelings out, as opposed to keeping them bottled up inside, because I tend not to show my anger as much as I do other emotions.  Writing the feelings down on paper would also give me something to burn when I do purification rituals. The burning of the paper is a way to get rid of the negative emotions and energies tied to the words written on it, which is cathartic and helps me clear my head. Cleaning something that needs cleaning would help me deal with the anger in a positive way by channeling the emotion into energy and giving me the oomph I'd need to do the cleaning.  It could be something like cleaning my room, or cleaning a sink that needs deep cleaning, or even cleaning up a thrift store find.  This would help me by giving me something to focus on other than being angry, and it would also get something cleaned that needs cleaning, which is always a good thing. Going for a long walk would help me deal with the anger by putting me into motion.  It would be a physical activity, and since I tend to space off and leave emotions from home behind when I walk, it would help me clear my head.  At the same time, it would channel the emotions into activity in a way that is beneficial to me, as walking is good exercise.