Emotional Baggage: Can William Blake Can Help You Drop Some?

Are you looking for a backwards way to drop your emotional baggage? Look no further, I can point out a way that is easier than you probably thought. All it takes is time. And a misguided pointer from William Blake.

Who is William Blake?

Wait a minute, who is William Blake and what was misguided about his pointer? Well, to get to William Blake we have to take a short detour to my high school days. I had a friend who was a strong leader in my life at that point. He was unusual, intelligent, opinionated, and passionate. What a great mix in high school!

So… Bands?

Anyway, one day he informed me that The Doors were the greatest group ever. Until then it had been The Beatles. We were living in the eighties. My friend was like a flash from the past. But he was passionate about it and I caught it. The hippie revolution, anti-establishment and progressive attitude toward exploration was intoxicating for us. And the lead singer for The Doors, Jim Morrison, was intelligent. I never thought it would help me with my emotional baggage though.

Finally … William Blake!

One of the quotes that he liked came from William Blake. It was, “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom”. It seemed profound at the time. Now it is not such a big deal. Sure, after you go too far, you know how far that is. You got a little smarter. But often going too far is destructive and produces smaller gains than the sacrifices. So for the most part I have thought that Bill was not as clever as I had thought in high school.

Emotional Baggage Needs Extreme Acceptance

Now, however, I can see a new way that he can serve us wisdom, and get rid of our emotional baggage. You see, the best way to get rid of baggage is to accept it. The baggage is some feeling that pulls you this way or that. And the best way to get rid of it is to accept it. And the more completely and deeply you can accept it the more it is going to dissipate.

Don’t forget to Breathe!

So you want to feel that feeling. Use the scanning breath. Find the feeling. Breath in slowly, scanning from right to left (eyes closed) and then breathe out slowly scanning from left to right. With each scan, try to feel the feeling deeper. Try to find where the feeling is in your body (it might be several places). Then as you progress, try to magnify the feeling. This is where William comes in. You want to go down the road of excess in the privacy of your mind.

Pump it Up

Pump up the feeling and make it as strong as you can. Try to maintain it or make it stronger. I typically do this in fifteen minute sessions. It may take two or three or four sessions. By the last session, you should have difficulty summoning up the feeling. By going down the road of excess in the privacy of your mind you accept the feeling so completely that it stops bothering you and in fact, it just goes on it’s happy way, to bother someone else.

Then you are free of that baggage. All thanks to William Blake and some breathing.