Day 3 - 179 -- Untangling Emotions

The day brought with it interesting events all packed full of various emotions. Frustration surfaced with one project that seems to have created issues with report formatting -- I'm having to become more familiar with software abilities that I've never used before. The upside is this will help me to explain the process better to students in the fall. Planning and booking for a conference continues. It is all quite exciting, which includes happy anticipation tempered by a good dose of trepidation. The work and arrangements will all get done, but there seems less time to devote to this than I'd hoped.

The temperature became quite hot -- about 27C while I was walking out to a meeting 10 minutes away. Luckily the wind had picked up which helped make it feel more bearable, though the winds are pulling the humid air up from the eastern seaboard. The evening air cooled a bit, so the house should cool some tiny amount and maybe sleep won't be as elusive as it has been the past two nights. That made me think I'd deal better with events if well rested.

Conversations throughout the day made me think of how emotions become so entwined that it becomes difficult to identify which emotion one is feeling. It is easier to note if it feels good or bad, but the exact feeling isn't as easy to pinpoint. I believe this is likely due to the presence of several emotions at one point in time. When we say we are angry, there are likely bits of rage, fear, disappointment, frustration, jealousy and possibly several other things swirling around inside. The same could be said for 'happy' which could comprise joy, hope, excitement and all those other things that are labelled 'good' most of the time. It seems that few of us take the time to try to be in touch with what is happening emotionally until things either swing way up or way down. Can we learn to recognize in ourselves the feelings that exist before they burst forth in a somewhat exuberant or violent fashion? Perhaps a better question is - do we want to know about or acknowledge our emotions? Being sensitive to the feelings of others is often easier than being ready to turn inwards a bit more often. Someone today said that there is power in all those emotions that we could harness for the force of good <smile>. I like that idea and think it bears some pondering. Perhaps if we can begin to see what is in us at any point in time, we could understand the reactions those around us are having -- which may be an effect of our emotional state. Lots there to explore and refine before I get this thesis clearly articulated, but I'm ready to start. 

The lyric I heard in my head was a single word from a song of the same single word title. It has to do with being more in tune with our reactions and how they may impact us and others -- being more sensitive. It is sung by a great Canadian artist. Enjoy! 

Insensitive -- Jann Arden