Category: JOURNAL PROMPTS

Before we discuss shame, let’s first talk about saber-toothed tigers. In this series, we unpack complex emotions to find the wisdom hidden inside them. It’s an odd place to start, but it’s crucial. Shame is not just a feeling. It’s an ancient, hard-wired survival program. For our early ancestors, the single greatest threat to survival […]

Frustration is the brain’s response to a prediction error. You expected a specific outcome, and it didn’t happen.  In this series, we unpack complex emotions to find the wisdom hidden inside them. We usually think of frustration as a stronger version of annoyance. But biologically, frustration is much more complex than that. It’s a mix […]

There are two very different types of worry: the habitual worry and the real worry. The habitual worry is when you worry about every possible thing that could go wrong, while the real worry is when you have a real problem, and you worry about how you’re going to resolve it. In this series, we […]

We all have moments when we feel insecure. When we think we’re not good enough.  In this series, we unpack complex emotions to find the wisdom hidden inside them. You might walk into a meeting at work and worry that you’re not as smart as everyone else in the room. You might scroll through social […]

When it comes to envy, we categorize it as a “deadly sin,” a petty, green-eyed monster.  In this series, we unpack complex emotions to find the wisdom hidden inside them.  It’s one of the most private and least-discussed emotions, arriving with a sour, electric heat that we’re often ashamed to admit. But what if that’s […]

Disappointment isn’t just sadness because of something that did or didn’t happen. It is the sharp, hollow “thud” of reality colliding with a deeply held expectation. It’s a feeling of friction—the gap between what you thought you should get and what you got.  In this series, we unpack complex emotions to find the wisdom hidden […]

Guilt is a complex, self-conscious, and often painful awareness that our actions have violated an internal moral standard or harmed another person. In this series, we unpack complex emotions to find the wisdom hidden inside them. We tend to see guilt as a purely negative emotion, a painful state we want to run away from. […]

“No regrets!” It’s a cultural command, a defiant tattoo, a life motto we aspire to.  In this series, we unpack complex emotions to find the wisdom hidden inside them. We are obsessed with the idea of a life lived so perfectly that we never need to look back. Yet, this obsession creates a fascinating paradox. […]

Fear. The word itself has a visceral weight. Its Old English root “fær” means “calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack.” This etymology reveals a profound truth: we experience fear not just as an emotion, but as an event, an ambush from within.  In this series, we unpack complex emotions to find the wisdom hidden inside […]

In our collective quest for well-being, we often treat our journals as emotional emergency rooms. Places to dissect anxiety, process grief, and untangle frustration. While this is an invaluable practice, it leaves one of the most vital human experiences undertreated.  In this series, we unpack complex emotions to find the wisdom hidden inside them. Joy, […]