I think it’s enough that we all keep trying to “fix” ourselves and put pressure on institutions to make this world a little less stressful. We definitely need a critical mass of awakened beings.

I’m not sure how people can be awakened from mass social manipulation. I know too well of the horrors of media and political manipulation. I’m in the business of making films. It’s a circus at this point. LOL.

I do think people are slowly waking up. Sometimes I think institution will do as much as they can get away with, as if they are trying to see how much they can manipulate without disturbing the peace. But I think the peace is being disturbed now.

Emotional skills and awareness are nice tools to have but sometimes we just gotta shout ‘Hey … mainstream media is totally lying!’ LOL We can’t always play safe.

I don’t think there’s just one set way to wake people up. The ways are many!

You do it with your skills and knowledge about emotions. I do it with my art. I see few musicians doing it with their music. I mean, we all have to do with whatever means we can and are experts in. Some people march in the streets, some write books, some blog, some vlog, some sing, some dance, etc.

I still have hope that we can turn this thing around. I don’t want to underestimate the human spirit.

I’m just not sure know how we help people wake up from that. My hope with the book is to help people get emotionally strong enough to start asking questions when politicians, the media, or other authority figures attempt to manipulate them emotionally. I don’t think you can understand emotional manipulation and social control if you don’t know what your emotions are or what they’re for.

As I look around at media and politics, I see such a massive preponderance of emotional manipulation, I mean from the moment we wake up until just before we fall off to sleep. It’s almost impossible to get away from it. But when you know your emotions, you can get a little bit more hip to the manipulation. That’s my hope, anyhow.

I think not only do we need to acquire skills to deal with anxiety and fear but also create a new society where there’s less triggers for stress & anxiety. For instance, driving can be a very stressful activity. We have cars that make tons of noise and if one is stuck in traffic then one is subject to so much noise and stress.

Anyways, what I am saying is that a lot of stress we all feel is due to social constructs like bills, traffic, loud cars, noise pollution, environmental toxins, food toxins, etc. (which are all byproducts of monetary system).

So while it is absolutely essential that we gain skills in how to ground fear and anxiety, it is also essential to help eliminate socially created stresses. I think that will be more effective in the long run. I guess I am thinking globally but we all have to these days. Our planet is becoming smaller and smaller every day.

Thanks Karla for your work!

Cheers,

Simon

I was particularly intrigued by the quaternity model that you explained in your book and found it a very useful. I was wondering if you knew of any other books you could recommend that delves more into the topic of the four elements that compose us?

So I’m starting one small step at a time, gathering around me the few people I’ve met so far who believe in my dream (thankfully, my acting coach is chief among them), and brainstorming ideas, great and small. Start small, knock on doors, try things … and see what happens.

And hey ya Katrina! Did I tell you that I acted in one play and went, “OH hellz no. If I gotta be on stage, I’ll be writing the material, thanks.” No one can interpret your words in the way you can. I salute you for going forward! Yay!!!

Where are you doing your acting work? Are you in LA?

I wanted to leave you a quick note and I wasn’t sure where to post it so I’m posting it here. I just read your book the Language of Emotions and I had previously listened to Emotional Genius. I really wanted to thank you for the wealth of information- more like truth- that you provided me. I’ve always wanted to know what you’ve explained so well in your book. I am really very grateful to you!

Sincerely,

Mori

My promise to myself for this year is that I am going to do my dead-level best to move into a dream that I have been carrying within myself since I was eleven years old. Of all the unrealized dreams I have ever had, this one is the oldest, the deepest, the most cherished — and the scariest. For most of my life, I told myself it was a silly, foolish, impossible dream.

My dream was — and is — to act in stories that I write. I spent years dancing around this dream. I did technical theatre (mostly lighting, sometimes sound or props or set dressing). I stage managed plays. I directed plays. I acted in other people’s plays. I wrote plays — and sat by and watched as other people acted in and directed one of my plays. It was such a miserable experience that I promised myself I’d never do that again.

But I realized, late last year, that if I do not pursue my dream now — if I do not take active steps to make it happen — no one is going to hand it to me on a silver platter. I can’t continue to sit back and wish for it.

Moving towards my dream, though, has brought fears rushing in like fire-breathing dragons towering over me, haunting every step I take.

I have been trying to move forward, one tiny step at a time, despite the fears — but I’ve been dealing lately with difficulties in my “day job” and my home life that leave me drained, so I don’t have much in internal resources to devote to my health (mental, emotional, physical) or my dreams. Or to dealing with my fears.

On Thursday, I met with my acting coach for two hours. Most of the time was spent with him listening compassionately as I admitted my frustrations, my doubts, my fears, the disappointments and betrayals from my past, the negative messages echoing inside my head.

He did not offer me platitudes — but he also did not accuse me of being silly or foolish for being scared. Nor did he accuse me of being egotistical or unrealistic for wanting to pursue this dream.

Instead, he gave me a “safe space” in which it was okay for me to be afraid. It was okay for me to name my fears — and my dreams. It was okay for me to admit how much I want this dream, that there’s nothing else in the world that I want more, that there is no substitute for doing what I want to do, that no matter how scared I am or how foolish the dream might seem, I can’t not do it.

By the time I got home from our session together, I felt clearer, calmer, and more settled than I had in weeks. Now, two days later, I still feel that way.

For me, being able to name my fears — and my dreams — in the “safe space” provided by a trusted friend who allows me to be afraid — and allows me to dream — is invaluable.