Unit 1 is best for those who (1) can already recognize and name their feelings; and (2) **** like to find good words for internal phenomena.
<aside> ⚠️ Getting clear about what’s meaningful to you can also highlight psychological issues that keep you from relating in that meaningful way. This can be tremendously useful if you have a way of dealing with what you find. If you don’t, you might Need some healing first?
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Unit 1 is for those who’ve already explored their emotions. Emotions are a window into our sources of meaning. Every feeling reminds us of something important: anger tells us that something important is blocked; fear, something is threatened; shame, we haven’t been living up to something important; etc. It’s easiest to interrogate sources of meaning if you’re already good at sensing your emotions.
Some of us have an easier time than others in recognizing when we're sad, anxious, hopeful, etc. It used to be hard for me to know and name how I was feeling, but now it's easy.
To join the School for Social Design, it’s best if you’re a 4 or 5 on this scale:
1 - I only feel anxiety or "bad"
2 - I only discover my feelings when they are really strong
3 - I can recognize that some days I'm angry, sad, alone, excited, etc
4 - I experience subtle shifting emotions all the time
5 - I notice how subtle shifting emotions move through my body and shift second-by-second
<aside> 💡 Here's a short video that illustrates 5.
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Communicating your sources of meaning involves a kind of disciplined attention to your own experience—a kind of attention which will be familiar to meditators or poets. You’ll need to notice exactly when life gets meaningful for you, in your interpersonal interactions in your work, and so on—from one second to the next—and to try to name what’s special about that meaningful moment.
Not everyone is interested in this kind of close attention to life, but we’ve found it’s necessary to write out sources of meaning clearly.