No Stupid Questions

1. I hope you're getting the help you need to cope long-term.

2. Focus on the tangible, objective details of the memory. And if you don't have your own "why," that's okay! Focus instead on what the facts deem likely.

For example:

"I remember liking the woods. There aren't really words for how I felt, but I'll help you see it how I might have seen it: Sunny days shaded by the leaves. Cool, damp nights. The sounds of different birds. The sounds of rustling branches. Twigs and leaves under foot."

Hopefully you can see what I did there. That's all a linear statement of facts. You're literally just writing the things that you, or anyone else, might have experienced while in the woods.

BUT - and here's the important part - everyone else will form their own emotions around it, based on their own experiences. So the listeners will believe you're sharing emotions. And it's okay if you aren't feeling them.

So just describe things from memory, maybe adding in extra likely details.

Also, if someone questions your word choice, it's acceptable to say something like, "you and I may process emotions differently. To me, those were the right words."

I have the same combo of illnesses (though maybe less intense Alexithymia)

A useful resource for me is an emotion wheel (you can find one with your favourite search engine)

It has tiers to it, so you could start with happy, for example, then get more specific with the sub-categories

You and I both know there would be great difficulty in identifying what actual emotion you feel with regards to your childhood home, even with an emotion wheel. Since you're not being judged on the accuracy on the emotions identified, you can pick a few that sounds reasonable.

For me, your assignment would more feel like a language exercise of picking the right word that makes sense in context, rather than thinking about the actual emotions experienced. In this case, the emotion wheel would help by acting as a reference of emotions to consider, and act as a sanity check if you're writing something positive but chose an emotion that is a sub category of anger, for example

Do you like or dislike a particular time or place. It may not be exactly what was asked but if you describe your what you like or dislike about a time or place it will appear to be emotional.

I deal with the same thing. I had written for several small publications, and one way I overcame my disconnect from emotion was just by stream of conscious describe things. The way I'm subconsciously describing it tends to reveal my feelings for it. Directly, i really feel nothing for it but under the layers I do have a sense of emotion for it.

Read several novels, and in time,you will learn how to label emotions.