Your feelings divulge as to what is going on in your life more accurately than your favourite astrological column. Our feelings and emotions form the vibrant, or resonant tapestry, a ‘multiclued’ synthesis and universal correlation between us and our fellow beings. You just can’t think of life without them; because, if we were bereft of our feelings, we would not be what we are. We would not have created music, dance, painting, or given a whole, new facet, or dimension, to design and its optical elegance, or refinement.
The greatest of musical compositions, literary and scientific thought, all through the ages, have been outcomes of highly-charged emotions. You’d label it ‘divine frenzy,’ as philosopher Plato called it. Without divine frenzy, no man, or woman, would have achieved renown. Nobody would have ‘fuelled’ powerful emotions and a burning desire to invent, or write with animated intensity. Sculptors would not have been inspired to chisel ‘nectar in stone’ — the incredible architecture and carvings that remain ageless in our ancient temples and monuments. It is this power, or remarkable passion, in all its varied hues, that drives us, like the chip that runs our computer, at the speed of thought. This is also manifest in everything we do — each in our own way, big or small. It is rightly said that our divine frenzy is the most compelling testimony for the existence of the celestial force that resides in our souls.
We would have continued to live in the dark ages, without emotion, or feelings — where there would be no art, no technology, no mobile phone, or iPod, or movies from Hollywood, or Bollywood. There would have been no renaissance, no political revolution. Our emotions add to our life’s repertoire, social composition and relationships with fellow beings, just as much as they add to our communication and problem solving. It is our emotions that contribute to the impression people have of us and we have of them. It is this emotional ‘connect’ that motivates us to emulate our ‘idols’ — not just dress like them, but also think as they do in our sphere of work.
It is not merely words — or, action — that represent our emotions. Silence too has the same degree of presence and strength in conveying our emotions. Just think of it — a powerfully enacted scene in a movie with dynamic facial expressions has as much power to ‘impact’ us as soul-stirring dialogues. Research suggests that we employ less than one-fifth of our communication skills with words. The rest encompasses of body language, non-verbal expressions and gestures. In a board meeting, for instance, a great deal of action is ‘emoted’ through eye, or facial nuances, and communication.
The real problem today, unlike the past, is many of us have lost, or misplaced, our capacity to read the feelings of others, much less about ourselves and our sensitivities. The primary reason being, we have suppressed, or learned to suppress our feelings, while overlooking the feelings of others — because, it could affect our balance, the applecart of our life and career. As a result, we customarily pay attention for facts, or details, of the situation — not emotions — while ignoring our, or others’ feelings.
Our emotions are the ‘nanoparticles’ of our thought process. They are as indispensable as our senses — sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. In our present dispensation, we seem to have, wittingly, or unwittingly, ‘blocked’ access to our vibrantly considerate feelings like ‘spam mail.’ The earlier we remedy such self-inflicted, or ‘jammed,’ parenthesis and restore our empathetic sensibilities to its pristine, emotional glory, the better we will all be for it.
