EXPLOSION OF EMOTION

February 2 , 2021 /

EXPLOSION OF EMOTION

It has been over three weeks since the storming of the U.S. Capitol and I am still sorting through the feelings that ranged from shock and surprise to disgust and anger.  There were others to sort through including disappointment, embarrassment and sadness.  I felt betrayed by my fellow human beings and tried to let it go, put it behind me and look ahead.  I have had to do that on other occasions.

We have an innate and learned capacity for emotion and we need to not only understand and manage our own feelings, we need to help others do the same. If we do not, emotions such as hate and anger can dominate and threaten humanity whether it is one person at a time or an entire group. There is a better way toward love and compassion for our fellow beings on this planet. Why we have not been able to learn the lessons from history is beyond me except to think that either some folks didn’t get the memo or they embraced apathy instead of empathy. There are other reasons, including the lack of emotional intelligence, popularized by Daniel Goleman’s work, “Emotional Intelligence and Why It Can Matter More Than I.Q.”

We need to appreciate and understand those who have felt disenfranchised for whatever reason including educational, economic, racial, political, and religious differences. Much of what we saw on January 6 was, in fact, the result of irrational behavior emanating from feelings of exclusion, contempt, hostility and resentment ending up in violence.  Those feelings were further stirred up and reinforced by a misguided, ill-informed President whose primary focus was himself for the entire time of his being in office. As Sarah Kendzior observed in her work “Hiding In Plain Sight” we should not have been surprised by the former President’s behavior given his history.  What was surprising, according to Sarah and many others, is that no one did anything about it.

I think often about the effects of poverty, discrimination, brainwashing and dogmatism on our fellow human beings. My life as an “educator” was spent trying to help both children and adults evolve to a higher level of awareness and being. My goal or mission was to help them be and do better.  We must continue that work however we can and in the words of Teddy Roosevelt, “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.”

Human emotions run along a continuum from fairly slight to extremely strong.  Almost everyone has emotions that, when expressed verbally or physically, can have an impact on others that will be mostly positive or mostly negative.  Feelings about one’s self are valid regardless what they are.  You cannot have a “wrong” feeling and when someone says,

“You shouldn’t feel that way” it’s too late.  The feeling exists and then the task is to decide what to do with it, how to express it and manage it in ways that enable us to benefit from the expression.

Below are eight primary emotions, cast differently by different people who study human behavior.  However, there is wide agreement about both the kinds of feelings and their various iterations.  In the early 1980’s, the work of Robert Plutchik defined eight core emotions, which he grouped into four pairs of polar opposites (joy-sadness, anger-fear, trust-distrust, surprise-anticipation).

  • Anger: fury, outrage, wrath, irritability, hostility, resentment and violence.
  • Sadness: grief, sorrow, gloom, melancholy, despair, loneliness, and depression.
  • Fear: anxiety, apprehension, nervousness, dread, fright, and panic.
  • Joy: enjoyment, happiness, relief, bliss, delight, pride, thrill, and ecstasy.
  • Interest: acceptance, friendliness, trust, kindness, affection, love, and devotion.
  • Surprise: shock, astonishment, amazement, astound, and wonder.
  • Disgust: contempt, disdain, scorn, aversion, distaste, and revulsion.
  • Shame: guilt, embarrassment, chagrin, remorse, regret, and contrition

For those interested in reading more, here’s a good article on our FIVE core emotions and how we make them so complex:

https://www.iamheart.ca/single-post/2017/07/07/The-5-Basic-Emotions

 

Comments (2)

  1. I am a middle-aged African American woman born and raised in the South. I have experienced brushes with racism and bigotry, but nothing compared to that of my grandmother or my mother, who was only 18 years older than myself. I can remember my grandmother telling me as a child that I was born with three strikes, she would explain that I was poor, black, and a woman. As a child hearing these words subconsciously made me feel inferior to everything and everyone. I didn’t believe life was for me, so I quickly learned only to live (survive). Unintentionally following in the footsteps of my mother, I gave birth to my first child three months shy of my 18th birthday. It was shortly after seeing this 5lb human that depended on me for everything, I decided that she would not be burden with the “three-strikes” stigma. My child will live a healthy and prosperous life, even if it killed me. I said all that to say, the majority of people look at their children and families and desire the same thing. The only person I wanted my daughter to be better than was me! I wanted her to challenge the persons she was on yesterday and improve on her tomorrow.

    Seeing the storming of the Capitol, made me feel very sad for the people that believe they are dominant and that anyone who looks, thinks, or believes differently from them must be destroyed. Wow! Is this my grandmother’s version of America? Are we recycling the past? If the answer to any one of those questions is yes. I am here to say, we are no longer an America of “three strikers, or benchwarmers. We are at the plate hitting home runs. And only as a UNITED team, the WORLDS SERIES can be ONE/WON!

    1. Thanks, Sabrina. Your story is important for everyone to know as it illustrates your resilience, determination, and courage. You are a reflection of Maya Angelou and her amazing “Still I Rise.” Young women like Malala Youfsazi, Greta Thunberg and Amanda Gorman, all of whom overcame obstacles, are helping to change the world for the better and so are you.
      I look forward to more from you and perhaps we can connect again for some in depth conversations about your vision, mission and purpose in helping more young people to rise!

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