When I talk about well-being, good mental health, and happiness, people often assume that I'm talking about a state of permanent positive emotion. Nothing but unicorns and rainbows all day.
It's vital to understand that positive emotions are just one of the factors that make up our well-being. The other factors being good physical health, feeling engaged in what you're doing, having meaning in your life, having strong relationships, and feeling accomplishment.
But positive emotions are indeed important - having them, sharing them, remembering them - so today that's what we'll focus on. So saddle your unicorn, we're going for a ride.
The Activity: Find the positive emotions in your life
Step 1: What emotions?
First, let me tell you which positive emotions we're talking about here. Because fortunately for us, there are many.
Take out a piece of paper and note down the following list:
Joy
Love
Gratitude
Serenity
Interest
Hope
Pride
Amusement
Inspiration
Awe
Step 2: Find the photos
Now have a look at your photos, you can either go through the camera roll on your phone or your old photo albums (do people still have those? *notes down prompt idea for creating a photo album*… ok, moving on)
Find one photo for each of the positive emotions on our list. The link between the photo and the emotion doesn't have to be super obvious, as long as it makes sense to you.
Step 2.1 (optional): Collage
If you want you can print out your photos, or use an online tool like Canva to create a collage of your positive emotions.
Step 3: Notice
Now that you've identified some past positive emotions, try and identify them in your life as they happen. Notice when you're feeling grateful, or inspired, or amused, and make a little mental note.
My Example
Here is my positive emotions collage, of which I definitely have plenty in my life, and for that, I'm extremely grateful… a positive emotion virtuous cycle!
Have a wonderful weekend my creative friends!
Love, Lorena
PS: I'm currently dipping my big toe in the podcasting world, to see if our prompts would work well in audio format. Have a listen to the very first episode here and let me know what you think!