Emotion Chemistry – Section 2: Emotion Potions

From the book that never was ~

In this section we go into the lab. We’re going to be taking the emotions we discovered in the first section on the Table of Emotions and playing with them, mixing them and seeing what happens when we combine certain elemental emotions.

One of the things about Emotions is that they rarely travel alone.  They are most often accompanied by at least one, but maybe many more.  Combine the wrong emotions and you can have a real mess on your hands.

Mix any two fear-based feelings, like Closed and Insecure, Stress and Pressure, or Hunger and Anxiety. Your potion might start to hiss, boil and then explode all over you, as sure as if you’d opened a pressure cooker at the wrong time!

The same is true for positive emotions. Just imagine what great things can come forth from combining Abundance and Generosity!  How about someone who feels Peaceful and Caring?  Love and Joy; Confident and Excited, are also pleasant Love-Based mixtures.

Some things to note:

*  Choosing emotions from different families on the Table of Emotions can produce a more tempered potion.

*  Adding Doubt or Gratitude can instantaneously change the color of your potion.

*  Combing Love and Fear emotions does not always produce a guaranteed result.

Emotions can arise in you or come out of others.  Blending these two can be especially powerful.  Emotions are contagious.  Have you ever noticed how a happy person can walk into a room and change everyone’s mood?  Lift all the other spirits?

Homework for this section is to observe the myriad of emotion combinations possible. See if you can tell which feelings are going on at the same time within you and without you.

Paving Good Intentions Along the Road

Very powerful things, intentions. They dictate how we go about our lives, what our priorities are, and the ultimate effect of our actions.

Some cultures speak of Karma.  I believe that comes directly from our intentions. If you put out generous and loving intentions, you are likely to get the same back.  Though it’s not always in a linear, tit-for-tat exchange.  The energy in intention bounces around and can easily get you from behind!

I was reading Sharon Salzberg (one of my favorite and most under appreciated authors).  She was talking about how the Buddha taught that these intentions and consequent actions were what defined a person’s life – not their caste.  A radical view then, Sharon said, and a radical view now.

Our intentions or motivations are what truly outline what we do and who we are.  Though they are not readily apparent from the outside.  We can never be completely sure what another person’s intentions are.  The motivation could be greed, revenge or generosity or caring, but it would look the same, externally.

The beautiful thing is that we can each decide our intention. It is always our choice.  And this, more than anything else, shapes our world.

Sharon says, when we understand our connection to all things, we can’t help but want to do good.  To set our intention for such.  It’s not something we need to strive for, it is something that comes from within, naturally.

Though we can practice.  Sharon suggests meditation to listen to and practice control of our thoughts. Then we can make more conscious intentions. You need to know where you’re going if you have any hope of getting there.

I’m off to the beach this weekend.  I’ve set my intention to feel loving toward the people I will be with and to be safe on the road.  I want to rest into the present moment and spend some quality time, in the sun, with the ocean.  Amen.

I wish for you to choose more and more loving intentions and smooth sailing ahead.