Emotional Expression…
What’s the first thought that strikes you when you see this particular set of words? Something deep and intriguing? Or some simple thoughts related to things that make you happy? Maybe a set of emotions that make you confused about the underlying meaning? Is it something you would have second thoughts about?
Well… This is a complex yet very personal area of thought I completely engage myself with whenever I get some peace of mind. Let it be when I’m eating, travelling, getting ready for bed or my ultimate favourite span of time we get entitled to be ourselves without being judged. We all know the latter as our forever favourite SHOWER TIME!!! Everybody has their own shower thoughts and habits. Let me share a little insight about one of my favourite shower thoughts with you.
To simply put this, we can say that emotional expression is the simple acknowledgement of the emotions we are built to feel. Emotions are part of our daily lives and humans are kind of “hard-wired” to express them.
Someone might think emotional expressions always have a grandeur output. But that is far from the truth. Expression of your emotions can be simple as a mental note you make to yourself while accepting your train of thoughts. The fact that all those expressions don’t have to take a physical form in front of the human eye, makes this concept more interesting. While healthy expressions of emotions are a natural & easy habit for some people, many others’ emotions remain mysterious, confusing and difficult to express in a worthwhile manner. This personality trait leads to a variety of emotional expressions from a little acknowledging smile to centuries filled with the greatest artists of all time.
As I previously mentioned all acts such as smiling, crying, nodding, cheering, dancing, singing, painting, drawing, acting, and reading are all emotional expressions. There are many more aspects of these expressions that can be discussed forever. But I would like to denote some intriguing facts about art, music and books.
You might be wondering why I chose art, music & books specifically. Well…personally, these are my favourite comfort zones which always lead me to wonder about emotional expression forms and their ability in reaching out to people most of the time. It makes me think hard about the healing and comforting qualities of them though they might have resulted due to a negative thought such as pain, hurt or betrayal of the creator’s personal experience. Humans always view art and music related to their own personalities and identify them in a different light which is far from the original concept.
As an example, a song someone composed expressing their own hurt can be your favourite comfort song. It can be a song that makes you happy and relaxed. Meanwhile, something that is made out to express positive emotions might lead you to question many things in your ordinary life. Have you ever wondered about this duality in such a manner? That’s why we call these emotional expressions relatable according to one’s own personal experience and train of thoughts. So the way one person identifies something can be totally opposite to another person’s opinion.
Another fact that’s worth noting about music, art or books is the emotion “in” it and emotion “through” it. This is something people usually don’t pay attention to. Have you been given a chance for your thoughts to find out if the emotion in the music you listen to is the same or different from the emotions conveyed through that music? Some might understand this question simply and conclude the answer while for another person, it must be confusing as the musical expressiveness reflects and reflects endlessly tangling your own emotions with music.
If we focus our attention on visual art for a little bit it’s a highlighted fact that a considerable amount of people who enjoy art by visiting galleries or looking for them through online platforms are not any sort of experts or very much educated people about the artist, history or the genre of it. There are so fascinating unbiased opinions from this kind of audience. For me who is an admirer of art from this audience, it’s so interesting to see the connection between what we “feel” on first impression when seeing the art and next how we “think” and define the underlying meaning behind the strokes of painting or the sculptor’s hands behind a statue.
Did you know that a whole art development called “Expressionism” evoked in the beginning era of the 20th century? It means that the artist was more interested in expressing an emotional experience and less focused on depicting realism. This clearly depicts how the artists themselves define and analyze their work in various ways.
Books are a crystal clear manifestation of emotional expression. It aligns with the logical thinking genre too. People write fiercely. People read fiercely. Have you ever wondered why? Why so much passion and obsession over them? Not just professional writers but also private blog writers or poets. Just because it’s a simple time-passing hobby? Why do people write private blogs if it’s not in the purpose for someone else to read? The answer to these questions varies according to the people. But the main fact is that it’s freeing. It helps you uncage yourself from your own trapped thoughts, guides you and lets you express yourself in your own words or through another person’s eye.
Stated above are just a whiff of the wonder of emotional expressions and forms of it. These expressions can be a record of what the creator was feeling at the time of making it, and they can also bring out the emotions of the viewer.
So I hope this glance at my own thoughts in the shower opened a new path for you to take a minute to wonder about emotional expressions that you encounter too.
By Rtr. Isuri Senavirathna
Image Credits:
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Madhura Senevirathne says
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