Emotional Learning: What is to be Listened to

Pastel painting by Penina Horowitz

You know
sometimes we have these feelings,
"feelings" like in emotional stuff,
but really, all "feelings" have a feeling part in our body, too,
a physical component.

And maybe we can play with this:
if we "feel" the physical part of any given
"feeling"
does that feel like we are expanding
or
contracting?

So, say: you feel "happy?"
And the physical feeling is like wanting to
dance,
or jump up and fling your arms in the arm,
or reach out and embrace someone,
or
sing for joy.

All that "feels" expansive,
wouldn't you say?

And then, let's go the other way:
we feel worried and abandoned,
say,
and what goes on in us physically?
Maybe we crunch in on ourselves,
and breathe less,
maybe we tighten up our belly muscles
as if protecting (from ???),
and hunch in our shoulders,
almost as if we want to curl up in a little ball
and
escape the world.

And that doesn't sound expansive,
does it?

So,
let's play with this today:
phooey on all the positive and negative
emotion stuff,
let's just "feel" what our feelings are feeling,
and notice:
do I feel expansive
or
do I feel as if I'm contracting myself?

Now, there's an interesting thing to do with both
sets of physical manifestations of our
"feelings:
and that's this,
the good old fashioned
pay attention
wake up
be aware thing.

Feeling happy?
Great.
Notice the sensations in you
and since they are nice,
maybe act on them
or exaggerate them,
or at the least,
just enjoy them.

Feeling sad, mad, bad, afraid,
whatever?
Skip the words in your head
about all that
and just concentrate on the physical sensations.

Don't judge or condemn the sensations,
but pay them patient and kind attention
and see what happens
if you put attention/ awareness
on your
tension/ contraction.

Life can get interesting in the moment.

Life is almost always amazing and at least semi-miraculous
in the moment.

Give it a try,
and see what happens.

Emotional Learning: The happiness thing

You know, some people say that happiness is the purpose 

of human existence.

What would a tree say is the purpose of being a tree?

If it could talk, which luckily,

it can't,

it would probably say that the tree's purpose was to be a tree.

Being a tree might just to the exactly wonderful thing

that makes a tree happy,

and so a tree must be pretty happy

all the time.

And how about you, fellow human.

It's supposedly a New Year, and there is various huff and puff

about the Mayan calender next year,

and whether that has anymore substance than the hundred's of "time ending"

schemes

that have crowded up and into history throughout

the centuries,

who knows.

And is today happy for you?

Is right now,

reading this notice on this computer sitting in

whatever chair you are sitting in?

If you were happy, how would you know?

If you weren't happy, how would you know?

Is happiness, like water boiling, something best noticed after the fact,

or can it be conjured up into being whenever we wish?

This is today's game:

be happy all day.

When you aren't happy,

be happy that you can discover something, some difference

that makes a difference, about how you go about making yourself

unhappy.

Read that sentence again: notice how YOU go about making yourself

unhappy.

Be happy for the chance.

When you are happy,

takes some notice and awaring into discovering the other side

of this action:

how do YOU contribute to your own happiness.

Any fool can blame another for their unhappiness.

Many a later disillusioned person will "blame" another person

for their happiness.

Pretend for today that happiness is an inside job,

and see how you go about these two actions:

making yourself unhappy

and

making yourself happy.

Bon voyage.