Issue 62 Emotion: Processing Shame with Casablanca

We devote each newsletter to one Primal power. This week is Emotion. 

Curious which powers affects you most? Take the diagnostic.

Dear First name / friend,

Certain works of art help you process shame and increase your self-acceptance.

 

Casablanca is one example.

 

Here's the trailer if it's been awhile.

Torn between her husband, Laszlo, and her former lover, Rick, Ilsa is truly stuck. There is no obvious romantic ideal for her to choose, no lesser life to abandon. Both men are good men. Both love her. 

 

There is only possibility and choice.

 

Set against Nazi totalitarianism both on-screen and in the real world (the movie premiered in 1942), Ilsa, Rick, and Laszlo's equilateral love triangle is an act of outright rebellion: reminding viewers that life and the people in it are diverse and full of good possibilities.

 

And when your brain remembers that multiple good possibilities exist, it softens towards others and yourself. 

 

Shame stings less. Self-acceptance grows.

 

Rick eventually makes the choice for Ilsa, telling her that she would regret it if she stayed, "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."

 

The heartbreak is knowing that Ilsa will feel regret no matter who she chooses. The joy is knowing that possibilities exist.

Why do we do this exercise? 

So you get better at identifying what you feel and why. 

 

So we have a reference library of literary works to help you alleviate hard feelings when they hit and to flourish by building up stores of positive emotions. 

You can learn more about the narrative techniques that helps you process shame and boost self-acceptance in chapter 10 of Wonderworks and chapters 3 and 6 of Primal Intelligence.

Missed an issue? They're available in our archive.

 

Next week, Commonsense.

 

In the meantime, Sarah is delighted to be speaking at the Bexley Chamber of Commerce Women in Business August event! If you're local, she'd love to see you there.