I was driving today, indulging in a certain fantasy that goes along in my head with a favorite song I was playing, feeling how that makes me feel - which is very, very happy. :) The feelings got stronger and stronger until it was a little overwhelming, which really isn't too unusual for me.

At that point, I realized I don't really know what to call that feeling. That lead me to give it some thought, and I realized, I don't know how to name many of the feelings I have.

This sheds some light on why I sometimes have trouble relating to the Emotional Guidance Scale. To be frank, I always figured it's because I'm such a weirdo. My feelings don't always coincide with the descriptions there. I'm not sure what to do with an emotion like I described above. I'm certainly happy in my fantasy life, but it does sometimes get so strong, it brings tears to my eyes. Does this mean that I'm killing off my desires before they ever have a chance to reach me? If that's the case, what should I do?

I don't know what to call poignancy, nostalgia - I seem to feel intensely about many things... good things and not so good things. What if I am not feeling lighthearted? What if I just feel strongly? Is that always a bad thing? I'm afraid I take things too seriously, including my own feelings, but I'm not sure where that line is, or what to do with it all. No idea what to call it.

I love and miss my mom and dad, for instance, but it doesn't make me feel sad, exactly. It sure doesn't make me feel happy, it just makes me feel.... strongly.

I feel that way about a lot of things. Am I alone in this? It's ok if I am, I just need to know. If anyone has any advice, it would be much appreciated.

Thank you so much. EGS :)

asked 05 Oct '12, 16:54

Grace's gravatar image

Grace
5.3k1087

edited 15 Oct '12, 13:51

I think I worded this badly. I should have said: I can't figure out which process to use on the EGS chart, because I can't figure out where I am on it. Does that make more sense? Sorry about this.

(15 Oct '12, 13:49) Grace
2

@Grace, this isn't completely on-topic, but have you ever studied the enneagram? You seem like an enneagram 4, like me, with the emphasis on feelings. https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/the-individualist-overview-of-type-four/

(06 Jul '15, 08:53) cassiopeia
1

@cassiopeia - Thank you, I'd not heard of this before. And yes, reading about the 4s was enlightening and I saw a lot of myself there. I also saw some of me in the 2s; frankly, bits of myself that haven't served me well. Fascinating stuff! Thanks again. :)

(10 Jul '15, 11:48) Grace

@Grace - Enneagram 4's "stress point" is the 2 - which means that when we become emotionally unhealthy, we start to act like unhealthy 2's. The enneagram is mostly concerned with our negative patterns, but it's very interesting to read up on, and has helped me a lot!

(12 Jul '15, 18:00) cassiopeia
showing 0 of 4 show 4 more comments

In the book "Ask and it is given" the paragraph following the EGS states.

Since the same words are often used to mean different things, and different words are often used to mean the same things, these word labels for your emotions are not absolutely accurate for every person who feels the emotion. In fact, giving word labels to the emotions could cause confusion and distract you from the real purpose of your Emotional Guidance Scale. The thing that matters most is that you consciously reach for a feeling that is improved. The word for the feeling is not important.



peace

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answered 05 Oct '12, 18:05

ursixx's gravatar image

ursixx
22.0k1445

Thank you @Ursixx. :) You are helping me see - its not so much the word I use for a feeling, as it is how do I define it enough to know where to place it on the EGS, so that I can deal with it? I don't think I worded this one well. And you know, I'm as confused as hell abt this, so I probably can't improve it any lol!

(06 Oct '12, 02:17) Grace

@Grace: Try rereading "Ask and it it given"

(06 Oct '12, 02:22) ursixx
1

@Grace - As @ursixx has quoted, it doesn't matter how you name your emotions. You don't even have to know where your emotions are on the EGS...just reach for relief wherever you are and everything is handled automatically: Is the feeling of relief an emotion?

(06 Oct '12, 02:25) Stingray
1

@Ursixx, I will do that, thank you. I may have new eyes now, and be able to see more.

(06 Oct '12, 02:39) Grace

@Stingray, thank you. I am getting confused because I honestly can't understand, when in the grip of very strong emotion, whether its negative or positive. I know that sounds stupid, but its true. So when I try to pivot, or reach for relief, I'm not sure from what, or to what, so I've ended up overwhelmed and crying, which is very familiar, and I do understand...

(06 Oct '12, 02:46) Grace

...But I am wondering now, how am I putting myself there, when all I meant to do was to get myself happy, and enjoy it? I've been bawling my eyes out tonight, and I can not for the life of me understand what my problem is.

(06 Oct '12, 02:47) Grace
1

@Grace:Doing emotional laundry? Maybe you're in a rinse cycle? j/k ;) @Grace don't forget "All is well" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga6dhkxmmIw

(06 Oct '12, 02:57) ursixx

@ursixx - damn! That won't play on my tablet, but i like it from the description, and I'll get to see it in the morning, thanks again. :)

(06 Oct '12, 03:23) Grace

@ursixx, I just got to watch that - your link "All is well" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga6dhkxmmIw

I may need to play that for myself every day. I feel wonderful right now. Thank you again.

(06 Oct '12, 17:27) Grace
showing 2 of 9 show 7 more comments

if you name your feelings
you stop them in time and
accept what you have tagged

when each sensory reaction
is at least different in time
and worth another close look

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answered 06 Oct '12, 19:42

fred's gravatar image

fred
19.7k176

Thank you @fred. Worth a closer look, yes.

(07 Oct '12, 17:31) Grace

I sometimes only use a few words that I enjoy the way they sound and they fit me when I have certain feelings not in any particular order ,they are: disgrunteled,disinfranchised,yuk,yum,mad,sad,glad, joyful, apprecative,loving,frustrated,confused,happy,irritated, annoyed,excited, afraid, doubting.

From here I can find a better feeling thought or feeling and don't have to stress about the word I'm feeling.

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answered 11 Nov '12, 13:01

clearheart's gravatar image

clearheart
1.6k5

"How do you name your feelings" I love this question @Grace :)

Well what is a feeling, you can't name something if you don't know what it is.

Feelings seem synonymous to emotions, so what are emotions? I experience emotions every day all day it's a huge part of my life. Emotions are the hidden motivation behind everything I do to explore, play and express myself. Often I experience the same emotions over and over in a loop.

Where are my emotions, if I close my eyes and look inside I can feel what I like to think of as Inner Space a vast space inside of me as opposed to Outside Space where all the physical things are including people, houses, birds, trees and of course my own body.

What else can I observe in Inner Space, there're thoughts and there're bodily sensations and that's about it. What is emotion? difficult to say really but in practice, in my own experience and looking closely emotions seem to appear from nowhere seem to flow or at least move or vibrate.

But wait a minute are emotions and feelings really synonymous? Let's take a closer look.

Just as yin yang are different expressions of the same spiritualized energy, so thoughts, feelings and emotions are all different expressions coming from a common source Intriguing? you bet it is. Here's a bit of background info;

Some definitions gleaned from The Free Dictionary;

Feeling; a sensation experienced through the senses

Emotion; A mental state that arises spontaneously

Mood; A prevailing emotional "tone"

now I'm getting somewhere, perhaps my feelings can colour, modify or mask the raw emotion that I'm having at this very moment. Raw emotion is me "having" the experience and feeling is me "knowing" the experience. An emotion is a physical experience, a state of awareness that's giving info about what's actually going on around me whether I'm conscious of it or not. Feeling is my level of conscious awareness of the emotion I'm having and here's the important bit;

there can be a huge gap between my raw "state" of awareness and my level of conscious awareness of that raw state.

What does all this mean in my everyday life? It means that I can be having a strong emotion of anger for example without being fully aware, without fully feeling my state of anger. I can be having a raw emotion of fear without feeling fearful. My emotional state can become so persistent that it becomes a mood that I can recognize much more easily.

Now here's an interesting bit of info; "The word emotion dates back to 1579, when it was adapted from the french word émouvoir, which means "to stir up". The term emotion was introduced into academic discussion to replace passion" ref wiki/Emotion

and what's the definition of passion? strong or powerful emotion, such as anger or joy.

wow that means raw energy is a powerful stream and that joy and anger are different ways of expressing the same "energy" for want of a better word.

So what happened, why don't I experience this powerfull stream of energy everyday all day this powerful stream that flows within? well I do experience it sometimes but other times it's masked by "feelings".

What are feelings and where do they come from? when I feel I experience through my senses, what are my senses? sighting, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting do I experience in any other way apart through my five sensings? well yes I do it's an internal thing, an internal mechanism, an interior language, a learned language, words bonded with the raw emotion that masks, alters, colours the raw emotion.

To enable myself to study in more detail the phenomenon of my feelings and how they may be bonded to raw experience I'm going to place a spotlight on it by using a specialized vortex ring in which I place the signature (sign) of myself, this can be a photo for example together with the goal of the exercise.

servranx graph n°43 vortex

http://www.servranx.com/Categories/Graphiques/DE-RADIONIQUE/N%C2%B0-43-Vortex.aspx

Here's the set up

alt text

After this exercise what is my answer to the question "how do you name your feelings?"

Once your internal mechanisms have been cleared then emotions and feelings are synchronized and you can experience raw emotion. As already stated emotions are the movement of energy in Inner Space and within this movement itself, slow, fast, stormlike ... there's an infinite variety of expressions or emotional signatures that are distinct vibrating at certain frequencies. If I ask you if anger feels different to happiness or if sadness feels different to excitement you'd say yes they do feel different. So emotion can be considered as a combination of movement, speed and frequency all appearing in Inner Space. The energy in Inner Space begins to move and the speed and frequency changes in response to what is happening. Someone criticises you, the energy moves in a particular way, someone compliments you, the energy moves in a slightly different way, you get the idea. This happens all day everyday.

When you observe energy moving in a specific way and at the specific frequency named anger, or fear or sad etc ... how do you know that's what it is, how do you know you're feeling anger, fear, sad, how do you know it's a negative energy, good or bad? As a child you were aware of these movements of energy but you didn't have a name for them. As a child they were just neutral movements of energy. You had to learn to judge certain frequencies as good or bad ... so when you say you're angry you're saying "I'm aware of emotional energy moving in Inner Space in a specific way and vibrating at a specific frequency that I'm naming "anger".

Here's a metaphor using "music" If you're anything like me when you see sheets of written music it doesn't mean much to you it doesn't arouse much in the way of emotion. That is the "name" of the music. However when you start to listen to it, experience it, it's a whole different scenerio if you really enjoy it you'll feel a whole blend of various emotions as the music flows, no mentions of positive negative, no mentions of whether to name it joy or anger, boredom or calm, passion or rage ... I think you get the picture.

The experience of music playing in your environment triggers pure pleasureable emotions within you, name your emotions whatever you wish it won't change anything :)

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" William Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet

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answered 05 Jul '15, 06:10

jaz's gravatar image

jaz
2.4k312

edited 06 Jul '15, 23:49

I don't try to name my feelings. If I don't like the feeling, I do Two Hands Touching until I feel better.

You can use the EZ DS video here more info hereand work your way up the Emotional Guidance scale starting at the bottom.

1.Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation

2.Passion

3.Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness

4.Positive Expectation/Belief

5.Optimism

6.Hopefulness

7.Contentment

8.Boredom

9.Pessimism

10.Frustration/Irritation/Impatience

11.“Overwhelment”

12.Disappointment

13.Doubt

14.Worry

15.Blame

16.Discouragement

17.Anger

18.Revenge

19.Hatred/Rage

20.Jealousy

21.Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness

22.Fear/Grief/Depression/Despair/Powerlessness

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answered 07 Oct '12, 17:56

Fairy%20Princess's gravatar image

Fairy Princess
(suspended)

edited 15 Oct '12, 14:19

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