Combined Emotions

I sucked at emotional intelligence.

“I sucked at emotional intelligence. I found feelings confusing, arbitrary and, scary. Then a Big 💡: I’d never learned what they mean. Even in psych classes…

One lesson: feelings combine.

Ie, when we’re in complex situations (life) we have a complex mix of feelings. They don’t “cancel out” they layer up. We have lots at once, and we can decode them into some basic components, each w a specific meaning.

I’ve spent the last 27 years kind of obsessed with this topic… reading neuroscience and different theories of emotions (I’m a fan of the adaptive theory and emergent theory, most of my writing is in these zones). So, I feel chuffed, optimistic, accomplished, and contemplative about Inside Out being so popular.

I had fun helping Patty Freedman & Charlotte McNamara with this image for Six Seconds’ insta. I tried not to repeat any words, with the idea the feelings on left were stronger eg “nostalgic” has more joy… and “melancholy” has more sadness