Beginning today I will be posting a writing exercise from the past year. Emotion 365 began as a writing prompt: Imagine an emotion as a fictional place.
I really liked this prompt and decided to turn it into a slow writing project — writing five minutes on this prompt each morning.
When making decisions, logic, reason, and a cool, hard approach to science seem to carry more weight. I'm often convinced by practical ethics and data-driven determinations. However, it doesn't make sense to eschew one for the other: logic vs. emotion with logic made King.
Emotions give valuable insights and direction and, in writing, emotions power characters. There's a lot we have to learn about them and from them. Humans once denied emotions to animals (and are being proven wrong). Humans aren't very good at naming their own emotions, either.
Emotions — trust your gut — can be a very good guide to making decisions, although nuanced. To make a decision that rings true for me, I'll feel for the fluttering frenzy (that means this could be a lot of change to take on but will be energizing and exciting) versus a sinking weight (that means this overcommitment will bring only stress). It can be a fine distinction.
Emotions definitely seem worthy of exploration. Let's go in deeper. For this writing project, I began by asking myself each morning "What am I feeling?" then "What emotion have I felt recently?" trying for something new each day. Eventually, I put a call out to friends and asked them for emotions to add to the project. I also used guides which aimed to map emotions.
Now, are all of these "emotions?". Well, this is exactly what I explored. I began by imagining the emotions as a place and trying to stay away from too obvious landmarks (red volcanoes for anger, for example). In Emotion 365, there are forests, deserts, river lands, lighthouses, ferryboats, seas, and lakes. Then along the way I started imagining each emotion land as having a capitol. Characters also popped into the lands. The lands are populated by centaurs, mermen, fairies, sprites, and snakes. They serve roles as hermits, captains, tutors, sailors, dress-makers, flower arrangers, lighthouse keepers, and guards. Many lands have a Guide who shows visitors around and a Council which makes laws.
Miss Emeline Traveler and her companion Miss Doe Friend appeared as our constant travelers to help us explore the lands.
When making decisions, logic, reason, and a cool, hard approach to science seem to carry more weight. I'm often convinced by practical ethics and data-driven determinations. However, it doesn't make sense to eschew one for the other: logic vs. emotion with logic made King.
Emotions give valuable insights and direction and, in writing, emotions power characters. There's a lot we have to learn about them and from them. Humans once denied emotions to animals (and are being proven wrong). Humans aren't very good at naming their own emotions, either.
Emotions — trust your gut — can be a very good guide to making decisions, although nuanced. To make a decision that rings true for me, I'll feel for the fluttering frenzy (that means this could be a lot of change to take on but will be energizing and exciting) versus a sinking weight (that means this overcommitment will bring only stress). It can be a fine distinction.
Emotions definitely seem worthy of exploration. Let's go in deeper. For this writing project, I began by asking myself each morning "What am I feeling?" then "What emotion have I felt recently?" trying for something new each day. Eventually, I put a call out to friends and asked them for emotions to add to the project. I also used guides which aimed to map emotions.
Now, are all of these "emotions?". Well, this is exactly what I explored. I began by imagining the emotions as a place and trying to stay away from too obvious landmarks (red volcanoes for anger, for example). In Emotion 365, there are forests, deserts, river lands, lighthouses, ferryboats, seas, and lakes. Then along the way I started imagining each emotion land as having a capitol. Characters also popped into the lands. The lands are populated by centaurs, mermen, fairies, sprites, and snakes. They serve roles as hermits, captains, tutors, sailors, dress-makers, flower arrangers, lighthouse keepers, and guards. Many lands have a Guide who shows visitors around and a Council which makes laws.
Miss Emeline Traveler and her companion Miss Doe Friend appeared as our constant travelers to help us explore the lands.
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