Recognising more Triggers

[Hope67]

I seem to be developing more understanding of some of my triggers - or at least, I think so.  I have some kind of trigger about animals wearing clothes in children's stories and films, and there are certain ones I tend to avoid watching for that reason.

I watched Toy Story 4 last night, and I was ok for most of it, but what triggered me was when one of the Dolls spotted a little child who was lost in the fair ground, and was crying, and the doll wanted to help the child, and recognised the distress, and came to her to comfort her.  That caused me to react in a very visceral and emotional way.  But what I found interesting was that it was the recognition from the doll of the emotional needs of the young child, that is what really touched me emotionally - and I find this happens whenever anyone appears to notice my emotions and shows any kind of caring towards them.  It is incredibly emotional for me.  I just wanted to say that today - and write it down somewhere, so I don't lose the connection.

Hope 

[woodsgnome]

I feel the power in your expression of the emotional reactions you noticed with this trigger. And your note that while the incident was indeed triggering, it seemed to settle on the emotional intensity of feeling some honest caring. This, it seems, can often be very hard to realize and more to take in, for a change.

It's almost like finding an underlayer to the overriding trigger, and I too have found that surprising sometimes, but very welcome given how deep one can fall without noticing the other side of the triggering incident.

More than a wonder, I think it's a sign of growth towards finding the hidden relief as well as grief in these incidents. It was impressive that you recognized this, and I hope it's a harbinger of better outcomes if any triggers like that come along again.