Yeah, you’ve heard of them…feelings…and so reading the Sydney Morning Herald of June 4th 2011 I was intrigued to read that Joe Forgas, that is, Professor Joe Forgas, says that we have 6 emotions…okay…what would you say they are? Go on, write them down now…or think about them…but better to write them down, so that when I tell you in a moment what they are, you don’t say: ‘yeah I was thinking of that one…‘. I had a go when I read that there are six. I think I agreed with about four of these…but you see, I didn’t write them down. You dont have to agree, but here is what he (and others) says: Fear, anger, disgust, sadness, happiness and surprise. What did you say?
In this same article, Joe says that, different from depression, a sad or negative mood is a ‘wary’ state. We go onto ‘alert’, and pay more attention to what is going on around us. Our moods change, there are positives and negatives, and normal sadness is not depression. He has a lot more to say, and given our preoccupation with happiness these days it’s worth a look.