Embracing the Inner Well - The Surprising Path to Feeling More Alive
Hi Friends,
Raise your hand if you want to feel more joy, more inspiration, more excitement in your life.
Now, raise your hand if you believe those are things you need to chase — things outside of you to find?
I’ve been there. Feeling stuck or bored. Like life has gone a little dull. Looking for something — an experience, a shift, a person — that could shake it all up. Or maybe it's not boredom at all, but anxiety or grief we're trying to avoid.
As frustrating as it can be to hear, the answer doesn’t lie out there.
It lies within.
More often than not, what keeps us from accessing that joy, inspiration, or spark isn’t a lack of opportunity — it’s the way we push away the very emotions that want our attention. The boredom. The restlessness. The feelings or thoughts rising beneath the surface.
Sure, we might get a quick hit of aliveness from something external — a big achievement, a thrill-seeking adventure, or even a new romantic spark. But that energy inevitably fades, and when it does, we find ourselves reaching again, searching again…always looking for more.
The true well of aliveness doesn’t come from the next high.
It comes from within.
And often, the first step is allowing ourselves to slow down and feel…yes, even the emotions that feel inconvenient, uncomfortable, or scary.
Because beneath that longing for “something more” is often something asking to be seen. Something that wants our presence more than our problem-solving. Sometimes, that boredom is shielding a deeper fear — like, “What if I’m not good enough to pursue what I really want?” Sometimes, it’s grief for the parts of us we’ve left behind. Or loneliness disguised as irritation.
We can’t reconnect to our inner well if we skip past those parts. Not because they’re in the way – but because they hold the map. They show us where we’ve been protecting ourselves, where our energy has been tied up, and where something tender is waiting to be felt.
And for most of us, that requires practice. Many of us were never taught how to sit with our emotions, let alone how to meet them with curiosity. We learned to over-identify with them and see them as truth — to believe that feeling sad means we are sad, or feeling anxious means something is wrong with us.
But what if we could see our thoughts and feelings not as facts, but as messengers?
When we pause and observe — when we describe the sensations or notice the texture of an emotion — we create space between ourselves and the feeling. And in that space, something softens. Something shifts. Not because we force it, but because instead of resisting the feeling, we allow it to be seen.
Of course, this is vulnerable work. It requires inner safety. It requires gentleness. And yet avoiding it keeps us disconnected from the very things we long to access.
As Brené Brown says:
“Joy is so vulnerable that people choose to live in disappointment, rather than to get excited about something and risk getting sucker punched by disappointment.”
To feel more alive, we have to be willing to meet what lives beneath the surface — not to dwell, but to make space for something true and life-giving to emerge. And that begins inside.
Here are 5 gentle reminders and prompts to help you reconnect to the well within:
Stillness doesn’t mean stuckness: That restless, flat, or foggy feeling might be pointing toward something deeper — not a flaw, but a message.
If I didn’t rush past this feeling, what might I notice or learn?You don’t have to believe every thought: Just because a thought or feeling shows up doesn’t mean it’s the full truth. You can meet it with curiosity instead of certainty.
Is there another perspective I haven’t considered yet?Observation is a form of compassion: When you name what you're sensing in your body — without judgment — you create space to respond with care instead of reactivity.
What sensations am I noticing right now? Can I describe them gently?The answer may lie within — but you don’t have to go it alone: Self-connection is powerful, but so is being witnessed. Support from a safe friend, coach, or therapist can create the conditions for deeper inner work.
Who helps me feel seen? Can I reach out or share this with them?Joy requires courage: Letting yourself feel joy, hope, or inspiration — especially after disappointment — is one of the bravest things you can do.
What’s one small way I can allow joy in today, without waiting for everything to feel certain?
If you’re in a season where joy or inspiration feel far away, know this: you are not broken, and you are not behind.
Sometimes, we don’t need to try harder to feel alive — we just need to listen more closely.
Not to the outside noise, but to the quiet within.
That’s where inspiration lives.
That’s where the spark begins to stir again.
That’s where joy makes its way back home.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Christina
