It's not surprising that many of us believe emotion is somehow antagonistic to thinking. The notion that the best thinking occurs in the cool clear light of reason, high above the distraction and messiness of emotion. It has influenced our culture in this way, particularly in the area of education.
People make distinctions between thought and emotion in the same way they make distinctions between the mind and body. However, despite our deeply ingrained assumptions, these distinctions don't actually exist. Body, thought and emotion are intimately bound together, and function as a whole unit to enrich our knowing. And research is helping to explain how and why rich emotional development is essential for understanding relationships, rational thought, imagination, creativity and even the health of the body.
All of our emotional/cognitive processing appears to be biochemical. How we feel about a situation triggers specific neurotransmitters. Objectively speaking, to the mind/body, every experience is simply an event. The way we choose to perceive that event, colored by our emotions, determines our response to it and our potential for learning from it.
The natural processes of life is now understood to be essential to learning, creative thought, emotions and it's time to consciously bring them back into every aspect of our lives. And realize, as I have, that something this simple and natural can be the source of miracles.
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