# Emotions Beyond Language By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2023-10-14 Every once in a while, management will pleasantly surprise you. They may have finally taken one's analysis to heart and have changed their stance on reality. One may celebrate the occasion as the [[Analysts as Modern Cassandras|Cassandra curse]] lifted briefly like the sun peaking through the clouds on a rainy day. One may also be resentful even with the win. How much pain and suffering would have been avoidable if they had only listened sooner? Sure, it's better late than never, but stupid managers do stupid things even when they eventually hear and "understand" the analysis. One may feel both ways at once - resentful validation. It's a brutal world out there, and rarely are things straightforward. Most people can only name a few emotions when it is believed thousands are felt. Language constrains our thinking and what we think we are feeling. We frequently reduce many feelings and situations into good or bad and happy or sad because those are the words we know. As a result, we never reflect on the multitude and mixture of feelings that exist beyond the basics. One can choose to do something beyond basic. But, know that words and language will fail to capture the complexity as one reflects more deeply on the situation. This part of who we are has no capacity for language, so what one thinks about will seem meaningless and void of form. It will be uncomfortable and restless, but it is not "wrong" because one cannot clearly express it. The feeling exists as who one is. The choice is what one does with such an indescribable feeling. One may make up new words to describe it and share it with others. Perhaps the feelings open one up to a new way of experiencing the universe. Or, one reduces the complexity of themselves to "good" or "bad" and "happy" or "sad." I choose the nameless unless it gets me out of a conversation or social obligation. For example, someone asks me at work how I'm doing. I could attempt to explain the complexity or say "good," so they leave me alone. Rarely do people want to know what is happening, and rarely do I feel it's worth my time. Furthermore, I cannot effectively convey my feelings, and attempting to do so often forces me into the basic construct I prefer not to be. By saying I'm good, I've limited what is possible because good constrains my thoughts and feelings. Perhaps the cultural norm of asking how one is doing is the most detrimental thing we could be doing. It simultaneously minimizes and restricts emotions instead of allowing one to innately understand the universe's complexities and how others experience it. It minimizes diversity and the idea of diversity. So, perhaps we should only ask someone to share how they are doing when one wants to spend an afternoon on the topic. #### Related Items [[Emotions]] [[Language]] [[Management]] [[Meaning]] [[Diversity]] [[Solidarity]] [[Value]] [[Culture]]