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And it all began with a story of one sensitive Gucio, who got lost in his feelings...
This is Gucio.
He’s 7. He’s full of energy. He’s a rascal, who constantly gets into trouble but still, everyone likes him, cause he’s always laughing and smiling.
This little Gucio doesn’t know yet, that in a few years, he will be convinced that “being funny” is not OK. He will try to prove to himself and others that he is serious. Trying to fit in with social norms, he will get on with the idea of being a “good” kid who is going to do what people close to him expect him to do.
They are the ones close to him. They know what he needs, right?
Gucio from the picture doesn’t know that he’s going to feel something hard to understand and harder to bear because of it. He’s going to feel powerless, he will sleep all day. He will lose his appetite and become 20kg lighter. He will stop smiling. All of this will happen when he turns 22. Every day, he stares at the wall, smoking one cigarette after another. He will ask himself the same questions. “What is the point of living”,“Does life have any meaning”? “What if I ended it all?”
His inner voice knows all the answers. “You suck” “ You are the loser.” Your life is a failure”, you can’t do anything and you can’t change it.”
Gucio felt something similar before, but never as strongly. Every time it happened, close ones made him laugh, and he kept saying “Smile!”. Gucio learned this feeling is unwelcome, that he needs to focus his attention on something else, and “it” will pass, on its own. In reality, he became a master of pushing this feeling away but never getting rid of it completely. Seven-year-old Gucio, doesn’t know that in the toughest moment of his life, when the question “Should I take my life away”, becomes a question of “How do I take my life”, he will get help from his friend. This will be the first time Gucio will encounter the phrase “emotional health”. He knew how to deal with a cut or a bruise, but nobody taught him about emotional conditions. He will learn the thing he feels so strongly is called “sadness”.
And that it is a normal human emotion, just like joy, it isn’t bad, or good, it just is. It’s not a stigma, but a piece of valuable information, coming from within. This sadness communicates to Gutek that his life is different from what he dreamt of and his life story doesn’t match his expectations.
Gucio realizes, living day to day, he didn’t have specific goals – something to look for, dreams to live for.
A purpose.
A meaning.
He was an actor without a script, realizing the stories and ideas of others.
Gucio from the picture doesn’t know that by giving this feeling a name, he takes responsibility for it. Because he is the only one who has to strive for his fulfillment, even being in touch with sadness, he still won’t know what he wants, but he will realize and accept that whatever it is, is different.
He will find the motivation to change things around. The simplicity of this discovery will bring him in touch with a long-forgotten life perk – he will be full of energy again.
The next day he quit his job, which he hates, and where he spent a couple of years too many.
He decides he will find his purpose, and he dreams of sharing his discovery.
Sadness is OK!
Anger is OK!
Fear of unknown is OK!
Those are merely the symptoms of living without accepting they exist, we cannot wrap our heads around them and outgrow them.
Only a dead person doesn’t feel.
An adventure began- a new life chapter. Many bumps awaited him on the way, twists and turns and tough decisions, but success, achievement, and joy awaited him too.
Today, many years later. Gucio writes this text and he is grateful he experienced a deep sorrow, that let him realize something is just no good for him. Thanks to that, he could start living with himself in harmony. Sharing the best he’s got.
Was he depressed? Who knows, I wasn’t brave enough to ask a professional for help. I also don’t know what would happen if not for fate, to send me a friend, who listened to me patiently in the moments of the deepest despair. At that time I didn’t know that his physical presence, and acceptance of my condition, is called empathy, and empathetic connection is a real tool for helping each other in the toughest moments.
Now Gucio has a dream. He dreams that everyone will experience the most empathy possible, to be able to share it, further and further so it becomes a social norm.
We realized this dream by creating a mobile app, that enables access to the science of emotions, empathy, and compassion.
Do you want to contribute to the realization of that dream?