(Part 1) Why are even simple topics often difficult to discuss, especially if people have different viewpoints? Underlying many confusions and animosities in human interactions in couples and groups is a form of unconscious emotional communication that implies and evokes strong reactions in ways that usually fall outside our awareness. We suddenly feel triggered, trapped, or kidnapped into an emotional reality that we had not intended. This kind of communication may be positive or idealized, as when we fall in love. More often, though, it is negative and agitating as when we feel we MUST protect ourselves by insisting on the faults of another, either someone we know or a stranger who carries an emotional meaning for us.
Human emotions are complex and widely called “feelings” when much of what we call our “feelings” are actually our opinions, our preferences, our ideals,...
Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. and Eleanor Johnson explore their reasons for starting a podcast: the major reason is to be able to hold hope a...
The Buddha repeatedly taught that we should regard ourselves and others by the consequences of our actions (including our speech) and not by our...