Thoughts On Emotions

What if I told you I don't believe in such things as "negative" or "positive" emotions? What comes up for you? Many disagree, and that's okay. In our culture, we've been taught that emotions are "good" or "bad" and other such binary ways of thinking about them. While working in mental health and other related healthcare for the past 30+ years, I've come to believe that it isn't a helpful construct about emotions.

TL:DR; What if you thought of emotions as information and were curious about them in a non-judgmental way? I find it more effective to think of emotions neutrally and be curious about them. The parts of us that are holding certain emotions typically want us to know things, and being curious about that is helpful. Is it uncomfortable or undesirable to feel depressed? Sure, and I get that. There's a big difference between "I don't like the way I'm feeling" vs. "This is a negative emotion." Small children learning that anger is "bad," for example, may not allow themselves to feel angry. It isn't feeling the emotion that creates the distress or problem; it's the judgment about that emotion and the associated behaviors or actions that can do so. For example, if I'm angry about the person in front of me driving slowly, that's valid, although who decides what "slow" is or what "fast enough" is? If I take the anger and speak from it or act upon it, that could lead to negative consequences, which is where the problem is created. However, if I could spend a few minutes considering why I'm angry about another person's driving, that may give more helpful information about what's coming up for me. What's underneath the anger? (I could write a whole blog about road rage, BTW...)

So what do you think about this approach? Could it be effective for you?

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