They come from somewhere, even if you don’t realize it. Now that you have a few words to help explain what you feel, you can use those as stepping-stones toward a deeper understanding of what’s going on.Įmotions happen as part of a sequence of events, rather than isolated occurrences. Looking at the wheel, you find two emotions that resonate with you: boredom and apprehension. Let’s say you have some awareness of a vague sense of discontent. Here, you’ll find what are called mixed emotions - contempt, for example, rises out of a combination of anger and disgust. The center circle holds the most intense manifestations: admiration, amazement, loathing, among others. As you move toward the center, the color deepens and milder emotions become your basic emotions: trust, surprise, disgust, and more.
Along the outer edges, you’ll find low-intensity emotions: acceptance, distraction, boredom, and so on. Got a feeling you don’t quite know how to put into words?įinding an approximation of your current emotional state on the wheel can help you start narrowing down the distinct layers and nuances of what you’re feeling.Īs you can see on the wheel above, emotions are arranged on color-coordinated spokes in three layers:
There’s no right or wrong way to use an emotion wheel, but here are some tips to get you started.
