Morning Mindset: Emotions As Nouns

In this short intention-setting talk, join me in choosing to use nouns rather than adjectives in expressing and recognizing our emotional states, a way of using language to create greater space for equanimity.

Transcript

Welcome, Friends. In today's morning mindset, Let's set the intention of using nouns to recognize our emotional states, Rather than adjectives, And thus create a quiet space for equanimity. I wrote a poem once that ended with a line, And felt both shame and amazement. The poem was accepted by a journal, And when it came out, I was surprised to see that the editor had changed the last line to, And felt shamed and amazed. I wrote the editor to protest that changing a noun to an adjective had made a profound difference. To say, I felt both shame and amazement suggests a separation from the emotions, An almost disembodied experience, Which was right for the poem. I felt something, Not I was something. When we use a phrase like I'm sad, Or I'm excited, The verb am is an equalizer. What's on both sides are equated, I and sadness are one and the same. We can revise the I am statement by choosing a different verb, One that separates the viewer from the thing viewed, And thus changing the adjective to a noun. We might say, I feel sadness, Or I sense some anxiety. In so doing, We create space between the I and what is experienced. The space of the speaker is separate from the emotion hovering about it. We can go further. Moving from I sense some anxiety, We might choose to say, There's some anxiety here, Effacing the I altogether, Subsuming the egoic I into the utterance of the speaking subject, As it's called, The present awareness that is our true identity. In this way, The emotional states then become like satellites passing through our mental space. Jacques Lacan, The French psychoanalyst, Called this the little bit of freedom that language allows. We can consciously choose to use nouns, Not adjectives, To name and recognize our emotional states. By doing this, We create space for being, For greater chance at equanimity. There's some sadness here, We might say. I'm feeling great joy right now. This way of speaking also better represents the ephemeral nature of our existence, The rising and falling of all phenomena, Especially the passing emotional states that come and go like weather. We recognize them when they are here and we recognize them when they change. So today, Let's set the attention of using nouns to name the phenomena of our emotional states and see what kind of mental freedom we might experience in the small, Quiet space that remains. Have a beautiful day.

Reviews

This is such an insightful and accessible tip Thanks Jeffery!
Love and blessings to you