Making Friends With Feelings

It’s time to share the news! Beth and I are excited to announce the unfolding of our latest adventure together! Our first children’s book is almost complete, and we are accepting pre-orders starting today and anticipate shipping books starting December 12.

We are on the way to realizing our dream of helping people understand and learn how to better communicate their feelings.

Our goal is to start an immediate dialogue, but also to make a long-lasting impact.  We thought of how many generations it could take for an enduring improvement in how people understand and express their feelings.  To achieve our goal, we decided the best path was to deliver these concepts to young children, while also engaging multiple, older generations to learn the same important lessons with the children they love and care for.

This is why we are starting with a children’s picture book.  While these books are written for children ages 4-8, our intent is also for the child’s caregivers to learn at the same time.  Through repetition of reading and talking about the story together, we hope to inspire a safe and comfortable dialogue about feelings starting at a very early age. We hope this is inspiring to grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, teachers, librarians and anyone who cares about and loves children.

I have learned several important lessons as we worked together to take a simple story and turn it into a book.  I laughed with Beth one day after I had come home from therapy about my “emotional age” and told her I felt like I was in the 3^rd grade when it comes to understanding emotions, feelings, and being able to communicate them effectively.  We laughed and decided that the book is not just for ages 4-8, but ages 4-80!  We can always learn something about ourselves and others.

One of the most important things I learned, or rather fully internalized to the point I can now practice it, is comforting someone in need.  At the outset of our book publishing process, I was anxious and agitated about something we were facing together.  I was unable to explain my feelings and was becoming closed off from Beth.  That is how I used to protect myself, by isolating from others. 

In the process of me shutting down, Beth became hurt, sad, and confused.  My first thought was to protect myself, ask her what the problem was, try to be logical and without emotion.  But, in that moment, I realized she only needed my comfort. Just to be held tightly without words or explanation. So, I comforted her with a long hug, until the big feelings passed for each of us.

Then we were able to talk things through. 

We both needed that time to sit with our emotions, comforting each other, until the time was right to talk.  I was 49 ¾’s years old before I finally internalized it and practiced it.

Another good lesson for me was learning to respond and not react – but that’s a story for another day…. 

If you know a child (or an adult) who might benefit from understanding and communicating emotions better, you’ll want to stay tuned! 

To pre-order a first edition limited run and for more information, visit our book website at www.makingfriendswithfeelings.com and follow us on Neugroove's social channels on Facebook and Instagram.