I Feel, Therefore I Can Be Free: Why “Positive Vibes Only” Misses the Point
Audre Lorde once wrote:
“The white fathers told us: I think, therefore I am. The Black mother within each of us—the poet—whispers: I feel, therefore I can be free.”
I revisited this recently and it really struck me. Audre’s words are powerful and stand the test of time which is why revisiting them brings so much clarity time and again throughout my life. That one line flips an old idea on its head. The philosopher Descartes claimed “I think, therefore I am,” and that belief shaped much of Western culture — valuing thought over feeling, mind over body. For centuries, people who lived closer to the land, to intuition, and to emotion were told they were “less than.” Too wild. Too animal. Too emotional.
And here we are today, still seeing that mindset in wellness slogans like “positive vibes only” or “your thoughts create your reality.” At first they sound uplifting, but they actually tell us to push away our grief, anger, fear, or exhaustion. They can make people — especially BIPOC and marginalized communities — feel like their real experiences don’t belong.
What Horses Teach Us
This is where horses offer us such powerful wisdom. Horses don’t get stuck in endless thoughts or hierarchies of “good” and “bad” emotions. They live attuned to energy, sensation, and feeling.
When a horse senses fear in the herd, they respond — not by judging it, but by moving together.
When they feel safety, they settle.
When they’re curious, they explore.
Horses don’t bypass what’s happening. They feel it, respond, and move on. In so many ways, they embody Lorde’s words: I feel, therefore I can be free.
In equine-facilitated therapy, people get to experience this directly. A horse doesn’t care if you’re “positive” enough. They respond to what’s real in your body, your breath, your energy. That kind of honest feedback helps us reconnect to our own truth — without shame or bypassing.
Why This Matters for Us
Human culture often tells us to manage our emotions, tidy them up, or keep them quiet. But horses remind us: feelings are not problems. They are information. They are connection.
When we allow ourselves to feel grief, anger, joy, fear — all of it — we step into wholeness. And in that wholeness, there is freedom.
The Invitation
The next time you hear “positive vibes only,” think of the herd. Think of how horses respond honestly, without judgment, to whatever energy is present.
Ask yourself:
What am I feeling right now?
How can I let it move through me instead of hiding it?
What might freedom feel like if I allowed all of me to be here?
At True Nature Integrative Health, this is the heart of equine-facilitated therapy: coming home to the body, honoring all that we feel, and remembering — just like the horses show us — that feeling is freedom.