What are Emotions?
Posted: June 19, 2021
By: Phoenix Giardino
“All suffering is caused by the illusion of separateness, which generates fear and self-hatred, which eventually causes illness.”—Barbara Ann Brennan
(Image of Bliss, courtesy of www.filemorgue.com)
When we speak of emotions, a multitude of words may flow from lips: anger, sadness, and grief; happiness, joy, and courage, to name but a few. Though we’d be close in our assessment—and as my ex-husband so kindly advised me: “‘Close’ only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades”--our statement would still be incorrect. Now, as you read this, you may say to yourself, “Phoenix, have you lost your bloody mind?! Of course, these are ‘emotions.’ What else could they be?” Well, my friend, to answer your question: they are ‘feelings’, not ‘emotions.’
“‘Toe-may-toe’, ‘toe-mah-toe’—what difference does it make? You’re splitting hairs here.” Again, my friend, I beg to differ. Forgive my trespass: your position is equivalent to saying, “All human beings are earthlings”, but we all know women are from Venus and men are from Mars (LOL!!!). Few people will argue though men and women share a variety of similar physical characteristics, we are very different indeed. Like binary (two basic) genders, emotions and feelings are not one and the same.
Then There Were Two
Contrary to popular belief, there are only two emotions: Love and Fear. I think it’s fair to say most English-speaking people are familiar with both of these terms. But just as we considered ‘feelings’ the same as ‘emotions’, perhaps we should clarify the definitions of ‘Love’ and ‘Fear’. Random House Webster’s Concise Dictionary defines ‘Love’ as: “a profoundly tender or passionate affection for another person”. However, to paraphrase the best definition of Love I have ever heard as voiced by Melanie Beattie in her book, Codependent No More: Love is a combination of two characteristics: admiration and respect. If one or the other is missing, it’s not love.1 Fear, on the other hand, is defined as: “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, or pain; concern or anxiety.”
According to Gregg Braden, author of The Isaiah Effect, feelings such as frustration and peace are not subdivisions of emotion, but the marriage of emotion and thought.2 From this perspective, everything we say, think, or do either originates from Love or Fear. As we discussed in my previous post, Why is Vibration Important to Spirituality? “…science has proven every thought, emotion, and feeling we experience is a waveform that vibrates at a defined frequency. The laws of physics tell us the slower something vibrates, the heavier or denser that something is. The slower the frequency, the more negative and harmful it becomes; the lighter or more positive the concept, the less damaging the effect.” Is it any wonder then that Fear pulls us down and Love lifts us up?
Despite the fact Love and Fear are literally on opposing ends of the spectrum, at some imprecise point of the graph, the two must collide. Though the spectrograph below shows the transition from Fear to Love begins somewhere between 250 and 310 intervals per second (between neutrality and willingness), I personally believe the move from fear to love starts at courage (200 intervals per second).
LOVE
FEAR
(Image: The Emotional Vibration Analysis Frequency Chart Image: courtesy of blisspot.com, February 2021. Adaptations by Phoenix Giardino, June 19, 2021).
“‘Courage’ is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment something else is more important.”
To be courageous, we don’t need to become Fearless; all we need is to believe we have the power within ourselves to rise above our fears to safeguard something or someone we Love, including ourselves. To see world through a lens of Fear is to see the proverbial glass as half-empty. To see the world through the lens of Love is to see the glass as half-full. But for those of us who are consciously aware, neither view matters—the glass is endlessly refillable.
In his book, Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine, Dr. Deepak Chopra explains there is a “fine line between exploring a patient’s fears and fueling them.”3 A traditional endocrinologist and a practitioner of Ayurveda, an ancient Indian holistic or mind/body medicine, Dr. Chopra has witnessed and documented a multitude of spontaneous regressions ranging from cancer to AIDS, and dozens of spontaneous remissions, as well. His clinical research has proven beyond facing a fatal disease, the only common factor amongst these patients was their unwavering courage to change their Fear of death to Love of bliss. But the most interesting consideration he offers is the concept that 99 percent of all diseases are a direct result of living with prolonged Fear.
Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontier of Mind/Body Medicine, by Deepak Chopra, MD
Science has proven extended periods of stress lower our immune systems and allow viruses, bacteria, and cell abnormalities that our bodies would destroy under better conditions to thrive. As unpopular as this statement may be, the hard truth of this matter lies in the fact we more often than not bring these afflictions upon ourselves. Now, before you crucify me: there are ALWAYS exceptions to the rule. Current domestic violence and child abuse victims top my list. But for the rest of us, and the trauma survivors as well, the first step to improving our mental, emotional, and physical well-being is to learn to Love ourselves. As difficult as this may seem to some, take a moment to reflect on Dr. Chopra’s “Patient Wall of Awareness”, as I refer to it now. If so many faced with such grim odds can not only overturn a death sentence with little more than their own determination, but live a full and truly joyful life based upon Love rather Fear, what fears are stopping you from living a bliss-filled life today? What steps are you willing to take to overcome them? Remember:
“It is the awareness…of how you are stuck, that makes you recover.”—Fritz Perls
Up Next:
1. Beattie, Melanie, Codependent No More. (Center City: Hazelden, 1986, 1992), p. unknown.
2. Braden, Gregg, The Isaiah Effect. (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2000), pp.149-150.
3. Chopra, Deepak, Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine. (New York: Bantam Books, 1989), 192; 233.