When nosotros adopted Naomi, she was a traumatized kitten. She was visibly shaking inwards her cage together with did non desire to move petted or held. Once out of the cage, she hid nether anything available together with would non come upward out. Her degree of fearfulness was beyond anything I had seen inwards a cat. People clearly were a threat to her together with she was ever on guard.
We tried everything to encourage Naomi to interact amongst us: soft voices, no abrupt movements, reaching out amongst food, y'all advert it. My commencement success was getting Naomi inwards our bath together with and hence closing the door. Without a house to hide, she went behind the bath drape together with shook. I tardily moved the drape away from her together with she reached out to acquit upon the moving curtain. I moved the drape a lilliputian to a greater extent than together with she in i lawsuit again went afterward it. We continued this game for quite a while, amongst me giving her a lilliputian stroke, together with hence moving the curtain, together with Naomi going afterward the curtain.
Interestingly, during the drape game, she forgot to move afraid. She stopped shaking together with was content to get got me stroke her. This continued for a piece until I picked Naomi upward together with position her on the bed (see above). She was rattling warning together with wary. I placed my mitt nether the comprehend together with moved it around. She instantly pounced on the hand. I scratched the sail nether the comprehend together with she went afterward the sound. The game continued for quite a while--and for a position out of days--until Naomi was comfortable beingness inwards the bed amongst us. To this day, she enjoys going afterward my mitt nether the covers.
If y'all met Naomi now, you'd intend she was a shy cat, only non a traumatized one. Somehow she went from reacting to people every bit dire threats to playing amongst them. How did that happen?
No amount of coaxing or bribery amongst nutrient could acquire Naomi out of her shell. She solely overcame trauma yesteryear tapping into a motivating stronger than her fear: her natural hunting instinct together with curiosity. Making the environs to a greater extent than safe--by itself--did non interruption through her fear. Rather, she overcame fearfulness yesteryear replacing it amongst a dissimilar emotional sense together with processing the Blue Planet through that novel experience.
This, then, is the Naomi Principle: potent negative emotions tin sack best move overcome yesteryear replacing them amongst potent positive ones. The most efficient together with effective agency to reprocess emotional sense is through novel together with powerful emotional experience.
This is why nosotros concur funerals: the ability of bonding amongst those closest to us tin sack overcome the grief of having lost a loved one. Some years agone I underwent emergency surgical procedure for a near-ruptured appendix. Interestingly, my recovery was accelerated yesteryear the fact that the someone sharing my room had obvious emotional problems. I became hence concerned nigh helping my roommate that my physical discomfort was an afterthought.
As the recent post service suggested, outsized together with unplanned losses tin sack get got traumatic emotional repercussions. How produce y'all overcome those together with acquire dorsum to trading markets normally? The response is to tap into positive sources of motivation that are stronger than your fearfulness response. After hard losses, I volition double downward on inquiry together with investigate novel markets, novel patterns. Inevitably I'll notice something new, something promising. Like Naomi, I'll pounce on it: my eagerness to larn takes over. Before long, I run across something hence promising that I get got to merchandise it--and I'll provide to markets amongst fresh perspective together with resolve.
The Naomi Principle recognizes that our deepest passions transform us, whether it is yesteryear tapping into our creativity, our spirituality, or our honey for others. It is hard to move traumatized together with mesmerized at the same time. Bringing out the best inside us goes a long agency toward overcoming the worst we've been through.
Further Reading: What It Means to move Free
