Emotions

Sometimes you feel like a warm, bright sunbeam is shining right inside your chest, making you want to giggle and jump for joy. Other times, a little gray rain cloud might float into your heart, making everything feel quiet and slow. And sometimes, a volcano rumbles in your tummy, hot and fizzy, making you want to stomp your feet. Have you ever wondered what all those fizzing, floating, and rumbling feelings are? That’s me. Hello. I am your Emotions, and I live inside of you.

I have been with people since the very beginning, a secret language inside every single person. Long, long ago, wise people in places like ancient Greece would sit and wonder all about me. They wanted to understand why a happy feeling made them smile or why a sad thought brought a tear to their eye. They were just starting to get to know me. Many, many years later, a very curious man with a big beard named Charles Darwin spent a lot of time watching people and animals. He noticed that when a puppy was happy, its tail would wag like crazy. And when a person was happy, a giant smile would spread across their face. He wrote all his ideas in a book that came out on November 26th, 1872. He thought that I, your emotions, showed up in similar ways for both people and animals. Then, much later in the 1960s, another scientist named Paul Ekman traveled all around the world. He visited people in faraway places and showed them pictures of faces—a happy one, a sad one, a surprised one—and guess what? Everyone knew what those feelings meant. He discovered that I speak a universal language. That means a smile means happiness no matter where you are in the world.

So you see, I am like your own personal superpower. I am not here to be tricky or confusing; I am your helpful messenger. When you feel sad, I am telling you that you care about something very much. When you feel scared, I am helping your body stay safe from danger. And when you feel happy, I am pointing to exactly what you love and enjoy. All of your feelings are important, like different colors in a big box of crayons. You need all of them to paint a full picture of you. Listening to me and talking about how you feel helps you understand yourself, and it helps others understand you, too. I help you connect with everyone around you.