Atlas of the Heart : Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

those who are able to distinguish between a range of various emotions “
do much, much better at managing the ups and downs of ordinary existence than those who see everything in black and white.”

Language speeds and strengthens connections in the brain when we are processing sensory information.

language does more than just communicate emotion, it can actually shape what we’re feeling

when we are unable to articulate our emotions. We feel hopeless or we feel a destructive level of anger.

What does it mean if the vastness of human emotion and experience can only be expressed as mad, sad, or happy?

Ludwig Wittgenstein that I came across in college: “
The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

What surprised me the most when I was growing up was how little other people seemed to understand or even think about the connection between feelings, thinking, and behavior.

I think that’s the biggest watch-out with irony and sarcasm: Are you dressing something up in humor that actually requires clarity and honesty?

Vulnerability is courage in you and inadequacy in me.

I’m drawn to your vulnerability but repelled by mine.

In these challenging moments of dissonance, we need to stay curious and resist choosing comfort over courage.