A New Character Emerges
When something hits hard enough, it can feel like your life has shattered into a million pieces. My recent job loss felt exactly like that—a sudden break in what I thought was stable.
From my last blog post, I alluded to a new Emotional Cartography character. As I was writing that post, I was reminded of the five stages of grief. I often find knowing these stages to be very helpful whenever something drastic has happened that is about to change everything.
Therefore, I’m going to write a post about this new character: The Processor.
Who’s Who Entry
THE PROCESSOR
Type: Hero
Core Emotion: Understanding
Primary Role: Works through thoughts and emotions over time
Shows Up When: Something doesn’t feel resolved or keeps returning
The Processor sits with what hasn’t settled yet. It turns things over slowly—revisiting conversations, emotions, and experiences until they begin to make sense. At its best, it brings clarity, integration, and thoughtful understanding. When overextended, it can become stuck in loops or overthinking, but its true strength lies in allowing meaning to emerge without rushing the process.
Who Is The Processor?
The Processor is best described as an entity. It brings awareness that I’m somewhere within the five stages of grief. Through that awareness, I begin to understand what has happened—and how I’m adapting to this new reality. To achieve this, it changes shape and colour to let me know which stage or stages I happen to be in.
It’s not a fast, reactive, or decisive being. It doesn’t force direction—it reflects and reveals what’s already there. I gain a deeper understanding of what has occurred and how I’m processing the new reality.
The Processor will sit patiently with whatever I’m thinking about. Experiences are often revisited. Seeing which stage I’m in allows me to turn things over, even if it’s slowly.
The Processor doesn’t rush to answers. It stays until something begins to make sense.
What The Processor Actually Does
Despite being an entity, it isn’t passive. It’s quite active in letting me know where I am in the grieving process.
The Processor works by revisiting what hasn’t settled. Sometimes it replays conversations. Other times, it examines past decisions—asking whether they were mistakes or lessons.
As scattered thoughts begin to connect, a bigger picture starts to form. Patterns emerge. Meaning takes shape.
It doesn’t push feelings away—it makes space for them, reminding me that unresolved emotions exist for a reason.
When The Processor Shows Up
While the five stages of grief aren’t always experienced in a neat or linear way, I’ve found them helpful as a personal framework. The Processor is simply a personification of my awareness of these stages.
It tends to show up during these types of situations:
- After difficult conversations
- When something “doesn’t sit right”
- During uncertainty or transition
- When emotions are complex or layered
- When closure hasn’t been reached
The Strength of The Processor
I think knowing these stages of grief is a strength. The Processor allows for deeper understanding. It also prevents impulsive reactions. I learn how to integrate these experiences into learning opportunities.
Combining its powers with The Navigator, it supports thoughtful decisions. It encourages me to find a new path forward. At the same time, it makes space for nuance.
Life is a series of events. Whether they are good or bad, they teach you something new about yourself. Having been through a serious job loss before that was very devastating, I’m finding this time to be not as severe. I survived that experience, and I’ll survive this one as well.
When The Processor Gets Stuck
As helpful as I’ve described it, The Processor can get stuck. This is when I find myself unable to move out of denial, anger, bargaining, and/or depression.
Sometimes, I can over-process things. I tend to ruminate on mistakes I’ve made. Sometimes the same negative thoughts repeat themselves over and over again. There isn’t always a clear resolution to the situation either.
While I seem to have accepted the reality of losing my job, I do feel like I’m still going through the emotions from those stages. I can feel the denial, anger, wishing for something else to have happened, and feeling like things are hopeless.
I’m not entirely sure if this is The Processor’s fault, or one of my other Emotional Cartography characters.
The Processor and the Others
As with the other characters, The Processor has certain interactions with the other characters. This looks like:
- Works with The Translator to make meaning from feelings
- Can get tangled with Dr. Anxiety in “what if” loops
- Sometimes feeds The Archivist of Regret
- Needs The Groundskeeper to help move forward
- Partners with The Navigator to guide next steps
As I intend to explore more of the other characters in their own Who’s Who Spotlight, I may find other connections to The Processor that I haven’t considered.
How to Work With The Processor
There are some tips and strategies in how to work with The Processor. I find it’s extremely helpful to just let it do its thing. There’s no point in rushing the process. Sometimes I have to remind myself that just because I understand the process it doesn’t mean I’m necessarily over it.
It can also help by doing what I’m doing now: blogging, or journaling about the experience. I may even get some encouragement to talk to someone about my experience.
It’s important that I learn how to distinguish between when it’s progressing versus when it’s looping. The Processor also helps to redirect me if these thoughts are no longer helping. When I’m ready to accept the new reality, The Processor can assist me in asking The Navigator for a direction to move forward.
Diana Knows About The Processor
I know my Diana has gone through some tough experiences and has her own Processor. Prior to adopting her, she was abandoned by her previous owners. To this day, she has no desire to go outside and worries if I have to take her out of the house in a carrier. She’s also been through a couple of pretty intense moves since I got her. I could see her go through those stages of grief. But she’s quick to get to acceptance once she knows her human is close by and everything is alright.
Honestly, she has the same effect on me. ❤️
Final Thought: Shattered Doesn’t Mean It’s Over
When something shatters into a million pieces, it’s important to have some help to pick those pieces up. That’s where The Processor comes in.
Sitting with the pieces is not failure—it’s part of understanding. Not everything needs to be solved right away. The Processor reminds us that clarity isn’t always quick—but it is often worth the wait.
How have you handled a transition in your life? Drop me a line in the comments or send me an email if you want to be more private.