FreeFallAnnie

Directive: gain confidence in identifying and articulating feelings in the everyday.
This WonderSpark began – as they often do – with I Wonder… I wondered, what could I do to get in touch with my emotions?

To be a better cognitive communicator I need detailed language. Where does being emotionally repressed for half of my life get me?

It depletes the language I’ve had to notice the signs my body has been telling me.

Like when I’ve been sad, or joyous.

For me, learning to self-regulate has been a major factor in expressing myself, and going from reactive to reflective (though it helps I have been in my head thinking about thinking since I was a child).

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Learning to identify and share language around emotions has become an interesting venture for me.

In order to become aware of my feelings and emotions, I need to be able to articulate them. Noticing the nuances between joy and elation is the difference between understanding one is born from surprise – a signal to recognise the activity as valuable (my value of curiosity dictates this. If there is ever a win for the curious it is elation.)

And so. I created the Feels WonderSpark.

There is a lot of research on feelings and emotions.

I’ve got my favourite picks for resources – but encourage you to make Feels your own, if this is a WonderSpark you would like to adopt into your life.

Toolbox/Sourcey

Brene Brown – Atlas of the Heart

Paul Ekman – anything of his… But I love his Atlas of Emotions and Emotions Revealed book. P.s. He’s the guy who helped on Inside Out and Lie to Me is based on him.

Abby Vanmuirjen – Emotion Wheel – Massively interactive and helps with grounding

Depending on which theory you’re prescribing to, depends on what language you are picking up, and how useful it will be.

I use all three, as well as look-up journal articles on specific emotions and feelings as I need them.

Brene Brown’s Atlas of the Heart, is incredibly helpful in identifying people who are in specific areas of study. I use this to bounce off into further research.

Prompted

What is happening in my body right now? How might I describe it?

What is the range of emotions I might have?

Could I be holding more than one emotion or feeling?

FreeFallAnnie writes about Feels.

Theory of Neurovisceral Integration (from InTruth)

The Scientific Process of Emotions

1. Stimulus:
   • Definition: A stimulus is anything that triggers the nervous system. This could be an external event, thought, or situation that begins the emotional process.
   • Example: Hearing a song that reminds you of a happy memory.
2. Raw Emotion:
   • Within 200ms:
   • Definition: The stimulus causes an immediate physiological reaction, creating raw emotion. This is the body’s initial and automatic response to the stimulus.
   • Example: Feeling your heart race when startled.
3. Feeling:
   • Seconds to Minutes:
   • Definition: The brain interprets these physiological signals and converts them into unique feelings. This is where the raw emotion is identified and labeled as a specific feeling.
   • Example: Realizing that what you’re feeling is excitement rather than anxiety.
4. Mood:
   • Hours to Days:
   • Definition: As these feelings accumulate, they contribute to a mood, which is a longer-lasting emotional state.
   • Example: Feeling upbeat and positive throughout the day after receiving good news.
5. State:
   • Weeks to Months to Years:
   • Definition: When a mood persists over a longer period, it becomes a state, which influences your general state of being.
   • Example: Developing a general outlook on life as optimistic or pessimistic.

“Feels—A Deep Dive into Your Emotional World”

💡 Turn your everyday emotions into rich, layered descriptions! Enter a feeling or emotional moment from your daily life, and I’ll break it down using the scientific process of emotions—from stimulus to state—while weaving in metaphor, sensory details, and personal introspection. Let’s explore how emotions shape your experience of the world!

How it works:

1️⃣ Provide an emotional moment—a specific situation that evoked a strong feeling (e.g., “I felt anxious before a big presentation,” “The smell of rain made me nostalgic,” “I felt unexpectedly joyful when I saw an old friend”).
2️⃣ I’ll analyze and describe the emotion, using the five-step process:

• Stimulus (what triggered it?)
• Raw Emotion (the immediate physiological reaction)
• Feeling (how your mind interprets it)
• Mood (how it lingers over time)
• State (how it shapes you long-term)
  3️⃣ You’ll receive a vivid, introspective breakdown—bringing depth to your emotions through language, comparison, and even psychological insights.

📌 Example Input:
“I felt a wave of sadness when I saw an old song in my playlist that reminded me of someone I lost.”

📌 Example Output:
“A simple song title on a playlist—that was the stimulus. A fleeting moment where my eyes hovered over the screen, and then, like a slow ripple across still water, the raw emotion hit. My chest tightened, my breath shallowed, and warmth pooled behind my eyes. Within seconds, my mind caught up: this wasn’t just a song. It was a timestamp, a relic of a past version of me—of us. Sadness settled in like dust in an old room, coating the space in a muted ache. For the rest of the day, it lingered in my mood, casting the world in a softer, more fragile light. Over the years, this feeling has become a familiar visitor. Not a wound, but a quiet echo of something that mattered.”

✨ What’s your moment? Drop it below, and let’s explore the depths of your emotions! 💭🔍

🌀 Emotion: Apathy with Echoes of Former Vitality

Stimulus

There’s no single dramatic event. It’s more like a slow dimming. A year of life passing quietly, without the ignition points that once sent you soaring—without the friction that creates fire. You’re surrounded by routine, responsibility, or stillness… but without the stimulation that once sparked intense passion.

Raw Emotion (within 200ms)

You may feel a bodily heaviness when you try to focus or begin something. A sluggishness in the chest or mind. Perhaps even a dull tension when recalling how you once used to feel alive—followed by a hollowness in contrast.

Feeling (seconds to minutes)

This becomes labeled as indifference, restlessness, or emptiness. But under the flatness is grief—for a former self who was fascinated, driven, bursting with ideas and curiosity. Now, there’s not exactly sadness… more like distance. A muted hum instead of a melody.

Mood (days to weeks)

This indifference becomes your daily tone. Life is not unpleasant, but it is unengaging. You go through the motions. When you do catch a spark—a project, an idea, a moment—it flickers briefly… but you struggle to hold onto it. And that struggle itself becomes a kind of fatigue.

State (months to years)

This has settled into a state of emotional disengagement—a long plateau. But what’s remarkable is that you remember what came before. You have contrast. That memory of aliveness is itself a sign that your system is still intact. Dormant is not broken.

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🌊 Similar Experiences:

• A gifted child who excelled in everything, now an adult struggling to care.
• A passionate teacher or artist who, after burnout, finds themselves numb to the very thing they used to love.
• Recovering from a manic creative phase where everything felt illuminated—now sitting in the quiet aftermath.

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💬 Definition: Dormant Drive / Emotional Disengagement

This is a state where your internal reward system feels muted. Interest and joy don’t arise naturally, and even when they do, they’re hard to sustain. It’s not depression exactly—it’s a disengagement. A pause in the pulse. The mind is still functioning, the body is still moving—but the spark feels like it belongs to another time.

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🕯️ Closing Reflection:

This isn’t the end of your fire—it’s a season. Even stars go dim behind clouds. Your system may be recalibrating. You’re not broken—you’re between. Between rhythms, between selves, between bursts. And the memory of how alive you can be? That’s not torture. That’s a breadcrumb trail.

Whenever you’re ready, even the smallest spark—a sensory detail, a strange idea, a moment of beauty—can be enough to start the pilot light again.

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✨ Want me to help you locate a tiny spark—something personal to build on? Or reframe this from another emotional angle? Just ask.

Use the following template to consider the entries below.
🌀 Emotion: [Emotion / emotional movement]

Stimulus
What happened and why it emotionally mattered.

Raw Emotion
The immediate bodily response: tightness, warmth, sinking stomach, energy, stillness.

Feeling
Name the emotion and briefly explain what it is communicating.

Mood / State
Only include this if the feeling lingers or points to a broader pattern.

🌊 Similar Experiences

Two brief examples that help distinguish or recognise the feeling.

💬 Definition

A concise definition of the central emotion, particularly what differentiates it from nearby emotions.

🕯️ Reflection

One or two sentences capturing what I might learn from the emotion—not advice, just meaning.