Personification is a word that means to give human traits, such as feelings, thoughts and behaviors, to a non-human thing. Oftentimes we do this when we see objects that we can identify as possibly having feelings or as resembling humans, such as stuffed animals or dolls, and to a degree we do this with animals and pets, where we give them human traits. For example, if you get into your car on a cold day and it won’t start you may begin to talk to your car as if it will react to you things like “Come on, you can do it, just start and we’ll be on our way.”
Look at an emotion that you struggle with, such as anxiety, depression , self doubt, overwhelm, or any other. Give your emotion a name and a personality, beyond that of which it is, and create a story around your emotion. Maybe a day in the life of Joe, aka My Anxiety. Talk about how Joe goes through his day and the types of things Joe does or thinks about and how his behavior effects you, his host. The good, the bad, and the ugly, tell a good tale about your version of Joe and what types of shenanigans he creates.
Next, take Joe and talk about putting Joe out of commission for a bit. I want you to stand up to Joe and tell him what you really think about him. Talk about the direct impact Joe has on your life and all the things you’ve had to navigate as a direct result of nasty old Joe. Tell Joe that despite the fact that sometimes he may have a place in your life, you will be working hard to create a boundary for Joe so that his place is not front and center. Put Joe in the naughty corner, banish him outright, or maybe just agree to disagree with him as long as he isn’t the main focus of your experience this upcoming year. However you want to stand up to Joe, I want to hear all about it. We can’t always control our emotions and we don’t always have a say in the things we struggle with, but we can create an intentional view towards some of them to help us stay present when those feelings creep in and try to ruin our day.
After you try this, write a bit about the process and how you approached it. Were you able to see the silly side of this or were you able to focus and be very serious about it?