“The world is as you are,” observes filmmaker David Lynch in his book Catching the Fish.
If we think about it, how we feel is how we experience life and the world around us.
When we feel happy, life is enjoyable. When we feel at peace, life offers us moments of contentment and satisfaction. But when we feel anxious, life can suddenly appear threatening. When we feel frustrated, life can seem confrontational.
One way to interpret Lynch’s observation is to reflect on how our emotions shape our self-identity and how we perceive the world unfolding around us.
Lynch writes how he shapes his emotions and therefore the world he inhabits through meditation. Others accomplish the same goal through prayer or exercise. The point is it’s helpful to find a tool that enables you to feel and therefore experience the world with choice and intentionality
Here is something to try. Twyla Tharp is one of our country’s most highly praised choreographers. In her workshops she often asks dancers to “do a verb.”
The idea is by inviting dancers to choose which emotion they want to express through movement they can begin to create their own dance.
What emotion and word do you want to inhabit? What might happen if you chose to “do happy,” or “do peace,” or “do hope”?
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On Emotions 