I’ve talked before about enjoying fantasy genre fiction. Is there a hero that fights against huge odds to win? I’m in!

Right now I’m reading Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. In this story, there are spirits, called spren, that that on visible form. One of the things they represent is the emotion of the characters. There are shamespren, gloryspren and honorspren.

What would it be like to have my emotions be so readily apparent to the people around me?

There are as many opinions as they are people, right? But when it comes to emotions, I live with mixed emotions about almost anything. It has to do with the stories we tell ourselves.

Am I happy because I got a raise? Or am I resentful that it is so small and too late?

Valentine’s day is coming. It is well known that many men are trepidatious about what to give their wives or girlfriends on this day, because of how it could be received. Will she be happy, or mad? It’s tricky.

These emotions are tied to the story we tell ourselves about what is happening.

Are those stories true? Do we know what the reasons and motivations for how those around us are interacting with us?

Did that guy ignore me and slight me, or did he just not hear me?

We can’t know. And it is possible the people around me aren’t entirely sure why they behave the way they do either.

I think it would be disastrous to have external manifestations of my emotions. I would not want to have to explain the way I feel at any moment.

Some of my feelings come from how I feel about myself. And a lot of them come from how I think other people feel about me.

Emotions are so complicated. And if I am unable to fully understand my own feelings, how can I assume that I can understand someone else’s’?

So did that guy mean to cut me out, or did he just not hear me?

I am thinking it serves my interests to give everyone all the benefit of the doubt.

If I can’t know, why not choose the happiest interpretation of events?

There are no little spirits to tell me otherwise, so I can choose what serves me.