Imagining Joy

Today, I want to continue on the topic of negative emotions. I had a session with ChatGPT to brainstorm why negative emotions are so sticky and heavy. It suggested that our brains are evolved to seek out and deal with threats. Threats are signaled by fear, anger and anxiety. Our survival depended on paying attention to these signals, so it was actually a good thing to have the emotion come to forefront of our consciousness. This is called negativity bias.

Today, the threats don't exist, but the signals still do. And because of our negativity bias, when triggered, negative emotion capture all of our attention. They are all-consuming.

So how do we handle these emotions? First, I would say it's important to acknowledge them as a normal and important part of the human experience. My Pentecostal upbringing taught me to label these emotions as evil and thas it was my duty as a Christian is to pray them away. I now think this idea is very unhelpful and can lead to depression, anxiety and shame. So, don't call these emotions "bad."

Emotions carry information, some true and helpful, and some false and unhelpful. Negative emotions exercise more areas of the brain, which consumes more energy and tires us out over the long term. They were meant to be experienced in short bursts to escape immediate danger. Once out of danger, the feelings would subside. But, because these dangerous situations don't really exist like they used to, we never experience that resolution and continue to be stuck in the emotion.

How do we get unstuck? I think it begins with imagination. Our brains don't know the difference between what's real and what's imagined. We can trigger emotions and feelings through visualization. Athletes do this all the time before competition. They picture every movement being done perfectly. They live success beforehand.

I think can do the same thing with everyday situations. I'm going to try an experiment today. I feel helpless about the way evangelical Christian churches behave. I feel completely powerless over what they do, which creates frustration and anger. Rather than focus on what I can't do, I'm going to visualize what it would look like if churches actually demonstrated unconditional love towards all people. If pastors stepped down from the spotlight and allowed everyone to contribute. In my mind, I'm going to imagine what this looks like in as much detail as I can, along with how that would make me feel. I want to see if I can convince my brain to signal emotions of peace, contentment and joy.

I'll let you know tomorrow how it went.