Victoria, this is fascinating! This idea of how we construct (co-construct?) our understanding of each other's emotions could change interactions at a very fundamental level. Thank you for sharing this ♥️
Thanks for tagging me in your work and references. I’ve been immersing myself in it but not been able to respond till now🙃
Learning to regulate my emotions has been on the back end of this crazy healing journey I’ve been on. It’s also taken me beyond what is medically believed possible. Though if an “inability to regulate emotions” is one (less known) root cause medically, then I’m firmly of the belief that learning to regulate emotions is one way to counteract the disease. Preposterous when applying a medical lens I know😆 but like I say, one that’s taken me further than is medically believed possible.
As a result of the journey I’ve been on, you’ll most likely find me asking the question “how are you feeling?” And if it’s in my insta stories as it often is, followed up with “how are you really feeling?”
Additionally, after reading “freedom from the known” as part of my yoga teacher training, I no longer see emotions as positive or negative. I feel we’ve done ourselves a disservice with such a label - and from a healing perspective I don’t think it serves to see emotions as good/bad, right/wrong. We are meant to feel the full range of emotions, each serves a purpose and can act as a guide, gifting much needed insight. Sensitive is the new strong as they say.
I hear you, Amber - 100% there is no good or bad, they just are, and they are like our own personal signals trying to tell us something -...we have to try and figure ourselves out & what it is we need
I'm not an expert on her work, so I recommend reading Prof Barrett's work for yourself.
I think your point about the questions is good - I also think the other person may have limited 'granularity' on their feelings - on how to articulate deeper feelings/reason for those feelings. It's why I think these days, compared to tight small communities historically, we have more difficulties really connecting with each other. our emotional literacy is not an automatic skill and it's undervalued in this fast paced world.
Lots of interesting angles for you to delve into Nia. Sunday's article 'how are emotions made' highlighted Professor Barrett's point about how to put Emotional Intelligence into action. Of course, self-awareness is essential to that.
This isn't the first time I'm interacting with these concepts so it's humbling for me to recognize that although I "know" this material intellectually, I still expect myself to be able to read emotions from faces, still think my emotions are an objectively proper response (vs. my conditioned proper response) to what other people are doing, etc. I laugh at my misplaced yet abiding arrogance. :-)
You're by no means alone. I had the same reaction when I saw the Ted Talk, and her books blew my mind. Thank you for taking the time to comment, Dan!
Like most unconscious 'social' biases, many of these thoughts as you said, are conditioned, and in later articles, I'll share Professor Barrett's other research into why our brain trains itself towards automatic reflexes - it's part of our biology and the 'concepts' she mentioned...more to come ;-)
I was relieved to find these videos. I searched for them because there is so much packed into her books, creating a bridge and portal to her findings is tough! So, I'm glad they resonated with you. I'd be interested to hear more of your thoughts about the books!
Professor Barrett has conducted several interviews and tries to make her work accessible. I'm still surprised that these insights are not more 'in the mainstream'. However, as the second video highlights, it's hard to counter ingrained, much larger societal beliefs and assumptions about how people 'behave-an-emotion.'
I really enjoyed this read ! It is very interesting how interconnected our social and emotional worlds are and how important it is to be aware of this! it makes me think about what came first and the history of emotional development. Do you think our emotional vocabulary has increased over the years and made the things we feel more complex ?
Instinctively, as each of our lives is more complex, layered, faster, longer etc etc our emotions have become more nuanced, infinite and harder to understand and communicate.
I'm not sure our vocabulary has matched the complexities - hence the increasing rate of mental illness, dissonance and social isolation.
I've seen & experienced how easily we can misinterpret and miscommunicate, at work, at home, via tech - and cross-culturally.
So I think we can all learn more, and connect more, and why I'm so passionate about empathy and inspiration ;-)
Oohhh long answer to a great comment - have a roam around the Emotional Agility articles - I've a feeling you'll be interested in those too!
Thank you for being a subscriber and taking the time to write this comment!
We are all connected by strings of vibrations. Energies. Music what orders the stars. ❤️ I love this piece. Will recommend most def, a recommendation back would be nice but not required.
Victoria, this is fascinating! This idea of how we construct (co-construct?) our understanding of each other's emotions could change interactions at a very fundamental level. Thank you for sharing this ♥️
Thanks for tagging me in your work and references. I’ve been immersing myself in it but not been able to respond till now🙃
Learning to regulate my emotions has been on the back end of this crazy healing journey I’ve been on. It’s also taken me beyond what is medically believed possible. Though if an “inability to regulate emotions” is one (less known) root cause medically, then I’m firmly of the belief that learning to regulate emotions is one way to counteract the disease. Preposterous when applying a medical lens I know😆 but like I say, one that’s taken me further than is medically believed possible.
As a result of the journey I’ve been on, you’ll most likely find me asking the question “how are you feeling?” And if it’s in my insta stories as it often is, followed up with “how are you really feeling?”
Additionally, after reading “freedom from the known” as part of my yoga teacher training, I no longer see emotions as positive or negative. I feel we’ve done ourselves a disservice with such a label - and from a healing perspective I don’t think it serves to see emotions as good/bad, right/wrong. We are meant to feel the full range of emotions, each serves a purpose and can act as a guide, gifting much needed insight. Sensitive is the new strong as they say.
I hear you, Amber - 100% there is no good or bad, they just are, and they are like our own personal signals trying to tell us something -...we have to try and figure ourselves out & what it is we need
I'm not an expert on her work, so I recommend reading Prof Barrett's work for yourself.
I think your point about the questions is good - I also think the other person may have limited 'granularity' on their feelings - on how to articulate deeper feelings/reason for those feelings. It's why I think these days, compared to tight small communities historically, we have more difficulties really connecting with each other. our emotional literacy is not an automatic skill and it's undervalued in this fast paced world.
LOTS we can discuss and exchange
💯
Oh super interesting! Thanks
Lots of interesting angles for you to delve into Nia. Sunday's article 'how are emotions made' highlighted Professor Barrett's point about how to put Emotional Intelligence into action. Of course, self-awareness is essential to that.
This isn't the first time I'm interacting with these concepts so it's humbling for me to recognize that although I "know" this material intellectually, I still expect myself to be able to read emotions from faces, still think my emotions are an objectively proper response (vs. my conditioned proper response) to what other people are doing, etc. I laugh at my misplaced yet abiding arrogance. :-)
I enjoyed this post and the videos you shared.
You're by no means alone. I had the same reaction when I saw the Ted Talk, and her books blew my mind. Thank you for taking the time to comment, Dan!
Like most unconscious 'social' biases, many of these thoughts as you said, are conditioned, and in later articles, I'll share Professor Barrett's other research into why our brain trains itself towards automatic reflexes - it's part of our biology and the 'concepts' she mentioned...more to come ;-)
I was relieved to find these videos. I searched for them because there is so much packed into her books, creating a bridge and portal to her findings is tough! So, I'm glad they resonated with you. I'd be interested to hear more of your thoughts about the books!
Professor Barrett has conducted several interviews and tries to make her work accessible. I'm still surprised that these insights are not more 'in the mainstream'. However, as the second video highlights, it's hard to counter ingrained, much larger societal beliefs and assumptions about how people 'behave-an-emotion.'
I really enjoyed this read ! It is very interesting how interconnected our social and emotional worlds are and how important it is to be aware of this! it makes me think about what came first and the history of emotional development. Do you think our emotional vocabulary has increased over the years and made the things we feel more complex ?
Thanks, Rishika - great points I'm not an expert so firstly I defer to the evidence based approaches of those I mentioned. Atlas of the Heart's introduction by Brené Brown highlights the complexities of researching emotions, historically: https://www.carermentor.com/p/why-i-recommend-atlas-of-the-heart?r=a9y7d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Instinctively, as each of our lives is more complex, layered, faster, longer etc etc our emotions have become more nuanced, infinite and harder to understand and communicate.
I'm not sure our vocabulary has matched the complexities - hence the increasing rate of mental illness, dissonance and social isolation.
I've seen & experienced how easily we can misinterpret and miscommunicate, at work, at home, via tech - and cross-culturally.
So I think we can all learn more, and connect more, and why I'm so passionate about empathy and inspiration ;-)
Oohhh long answer to a great comment - have a roam around the Emotional Agility articles - I've a feeling you'll be interested in those too!
Thank you for being a subscriber and taking the time to write this comment!
We are all connected by strings of vibrations. Energies. Music what orders the stars. ❤️ I love this piece. Will recommend most def, a recommendation back would be nice but not required.
Thank you Paolo! Thanks for subscribing and for your recommendation! I'm humbled by your response. I shall explore more of your work.