Emotions, emotions, emotions! They shape how we perceive and interact with the world around us. Yet, understanding and articulating our emotions can be a bit tricky. One of my fave tools is a little something called the "Wheel of Emotions". It’s beautiful and lovely visual tool designed to unravel the complexities of all these complicated feelings of ours, as well as to help us build emotional awareness and communication.
Sounds pretty bloody great doesn’t it? Let’s dive in…
Primary and Secondary Emotions
In the middle of the Wheel of Emotions we have primary and secondary emotion categories. Developed by psychologist Robert Plutchik, this tool showcases eight primary emotions:
1. Joy
2. Love
3. Fear
4. Anger
5. Sadness
6. Surprise
Each primary emotion represents a different aspect of our emotional landscape. Now, as you know our emotions often blend and intertwine, giving us the delicious spectrum of human sentiment. It's in the spaces between the primary emotions that we find the secondary emotions. These capture the juicy hues that emerge when emotions combine and deepen.
How to Use the Wheel of Emotions
Identifying Emotions:
When you find yourself feeling 10/10 emosh, take a breath and a hot sec to reflect using the Wheel of Emotions. Pinpoint the primary emotion that resonates most with your current state of emosh. Sounds super simple, but this helps provide valuable clarity. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.
Exploring Nuances:
Rarely are emotions singular; they often mix and gel and bubble together to create a more intricate emotional masterpiece. The spaces between primary emotions give you an opportunity to reflect on a deeper level and help to refine your emotional vocab. This deepens your reflection practice as well as builds on your confidence to describe your feelings more precisely.
Better Communication:
If we don’t tell people how we feel, how will they know?! No one is a mind reader. Not you, not me, nobody (well maybe Derren Brown but let’s not go down a rabbit hole). Relationships thrive on open, honest, and effective communication babes. And when I say relationships, I don’t just mean romantic ones – I mean all relationships (friends, work, family etc)! The Wheel of Emotions acts as a cute but sturdy bridge, allowing you to open up a pathway between you and your people by expressing yourself more clearly to others. Sharing your emotional state using the wheel as a guide builds understanding and connection.
Self-Reflection:
Self-reflection is the thing that’s going to change your life my love. Dive deeper into your emotional landscape, get all up involved in it. Don’t be scared to get right up in there and feel all your feelings. They are there to teach you something. Why do you feel the way you do? How do your emotions intermingle? This self-reflection practice not only heightens self-awareness but also paves the way for personal growth. You’d be silly not to give it a go, really.
Empathy and Compassion:
Some of us are natural empaths and some of us find it a little bit more difficult to slip into other people’s shoes. Either way, when someone shares their feelings, the Wheel of Emotions can be used as a compass. Using this tool like the little emotional explorer you are, helps you navigate someone else’s emotional landscape more empathetically. By doing this, you build deeper connections by understanding the layers of their sentiment. How LOVELY.
While the Wheel of Emotions offers a bloody good framework, it's important to remember that emotions are intricate and multifaceted. You’ll already know this cos you experience them all day every day. The wheel acts as a guide, but it doesn't capture every shade of emotion. We’re human beings and it’s kinda our thing to overcomplicate things, so it’s silly to assume a diagram can capture the beautiful complexity that is human emotions. It does, however, help.
Emotions are the beautiful pitter patter heartbeat of the human experience. Understanding them enriches our interactions, relationships, and personal growth. The Wheel of Emotions serves as a little guiding light, helping us find our way through this vibrant landscape with greater awareness and clarity.
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