Sunday, July 10, 2022 When Waves Become an Emotional Tsunami (Lessons from Pleasantville, Part 3 of 4) Feelings fill our lives and are what make us human. But left unchecked, they can quickly overwhelm us Blogs Newsletters National By Quentin Steen, Representative In the movie Pleasantville, colour represents the transformation from repression to enlightenment. People—and their surroundings—change from black and white to colour when they connect with the essence of who they really are. For the people of Pleasantville, red symbolizes love, pleasure, curiosity, anger, and destruction. The first thing in the movie to turn coloured was a blood-red rose, and a rose, as we understand, is a symbol of love. In Pleasantville, colour represents life. For me, it’s connected to my emotions and feelings—and how dull my world would be without them. Feelings serve a greater purpose, namely, what it means to be human. You might not know what to do with your feelings in the moments you experience them, but they fill your life. You may not know what to do with them, but you can learn. The danger you entertain when you don’t acknowledge your feelings—especially the difficult ones—is feeling overwhelmed by what I like to refer to as an emotional tsunami of the soul. Left unchecked or unattended, the survival tactic you may employ is running, taking cover, and trying to wait out the storm. But, the question remains, is this the best way to deal with your feelings? Next month, we will look at a survival tactic that will help you wait out those storms in a healthier, more robust way if you can muster up the courage and support of others. Quentin Steen is a certified mental health first aid instructor for the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Get your BRAIN right and your MIND will follow! 4 Mental Health Resources to Help You If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental health issue, CLAC has a number of resources and interactive tools available to help you at My Health and Wellness. Stronger Minds features videos and quick reads from mental health experts, activities to help you gain resilience, and ask-an-expert videos in response to questions. WellCan offers free well-being resources to help Canadians develop coping strategies and build resilience to help deal with uncertainty, mental health, and substance abuse concerns. Wellness Together Canada: Mental Health and Substance Use Support provides free online resources, tools, apps, and connections to trained volunteers and qualified mental health professionals. You might be interested in Why We Work Safely 5 Jun 2026 Standing Your Ground, and Staying Steady on the Job 4 Jun 2026 CLAC Partners with Alberta Government to Advance Skilled Trades Training and Accelerate Certification 4 Jun 2026 Strathcona Mechanical Workers Ratify New Agreement Providing Wage, Scheduling Improvements 3 Jun 2026