True Emotions

Even though it is still only the first week of this seminar, I can truthfully say that I am becoming more aware of my emotions.  Before this seminar I always tried to steer away from negative emotions.  I felt that I was wasting my time whenever I was angry or upset.  I had a teacher recently tell a lecture that he too has this same outlook in life.  When I heard that I felt almost justified.  This feeling lasted for a while until I heard someone else question this train of thought.  She asked that if all we feel is positive emotions, where is the truth in that?  This got me to questioning.  If I don't allow myself to experience negative emotions, my positive feelings hold less meaning.
I have realized that only allowing myself to focus on positive emotions is unrealistic.  I know that it is also unhealthy to focus on negative things (which obviously I wouldn't want to do anyways) but I need a better balance in my life.  I need to work on letting myself experience whatever emotions come to me.  In order to do this, I hope that this seminar teaches me ways to experience these emotions but in balanced and controlled ways.  I guess you can say that this thinking process has triggered an emotion of hopefulness in me.  This is definitely a pleasant feeling on the bipolar scale.  I think that in the next seven or however many weeks, I will be more in control of my emotional reactions and will be leading a more balanced life.

An evening of mixed emotions

Last night I spoke with someone who informed me that their family member had cancer.  Before this I had been in a good mood but this triggered emotions of sadness and sympathy.  I continued to feel these emotions as she explained the situation.  Towards the end of our conversation though, I could tell that she felt some hope.  Through talking with her, I picked up on that feeling and began to be hopeful for her family as well.  This alleviated a small portion of the sadness but I am still feeling very sympathetic and my heart goes out to that family.  Overall, I would say that these emotions were unpleasant.  It is never pleasant to hear that someone you know, or their loved one, is sick but to know that she had hope for healing made the feeling a little better.

Later in the evening, I got to see pictures from a friend's wedding.  This triggered my emotions to switch drastically.  I now felt joy and excitement.  Seeing the happy faces and all of the loving family that surrounded the couple made me feel extremely happy for them.  I could see how much they loved each other.  Unlike my earlier emotions, this was very pleasant.  These emotions lasted for a while but eventually their intensity faded and it just felt more like a good mood rather than individual emotions triggered by specific things.

Although my emotions and mood changed throughout the evening, my heart continues to go out to my friend and her family.  I shall keep them in my heart as I hope for healing for them.

Week 1 Discussion Questions

Question 1) What does Lazarus mean when he says society provides us with a "template of human relationships and meaning"?

Question 2) Darwin's article explains that a reaction can be converted into a reflex action through habit.  When this occurs, is there still an emotion connected to the motion?

Question 3) In his abstract, Oatley states "emotions configure our cognitive systems".  How does this differ from Lazarus' theory?

Question 4) James states that in order to "conquer undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves, we go through outward motions of those contrary dispositions we prefer to contemplate.  Do you believe that this idea can be applied to Lazarus' theory?  In other words, can thinking about a contrary disposition or a situation that would cause that disposition change your emotional tendency?

Nothing But Pleasant!

Right from the time when I woke up, I knew that today was going to be a good mood sort of day.  I did not have to get up too early, my apartment still smelled like fresh cookies from the night before and I knew it was almost the weekend.  Starting on a positive note made me feel almost nothing but pleasant emotions throughout the whole day.
As I walked to my first class, campus was very quiet.  This allowed me to feel very calm which was pleasant because it allowed me to collect my thoughts and feel prepared to start a busy day.  This calmness lasted throughout most of the morning.  The only unpleasant emotion I felt today was a little bit of boredom during my biochemistry lecture.  My boredom was caused by the monotonous voice of my professor as well as the repetitiveness of the material.  Luckily this emotion was less intense than the others I felt today and did not last beyond the end of class.  Later on in the day I met up with a couple good friends to grab coffee which triggered a spontaneous feeling of extreme happiness.  It was such a pleasant experience because I enjoy spending time with them and their positive energy is infectious.  This feeling of happiness continued throughout the afternoon and made even a two hour lab an enjoyable experience.
As I write this entry, the word that would best describe my emotion would be excited.  This emotion has been brought on by the fact that it is the weekend.  I am looking forward to activities tonight as well as going swing dancing tomorrow!  I believe that this feeling of excitement is going to last for quite a long time.  The beginning of a new school year is always filled with fun activities and a lot more time to enjoy them compared to once classes are in full swing.  I feel the energy on campus and that of my friends and it excites me even more. I am looking forward to all that this semester will bring!