Sadness
What it is telling youYou cared about something. Sadness is how much.
How He Sees It.
For Eric, sadness is not a malfunction. It is a messenger, and its message is that something mattered to you. That reading makes it easier to sit with than to escape.
He admits that during the pandemic, escaping was often his habit in hard moments: disappear, distract, come back later. The philosophy he holds now asks the opposite, because experiencing life fully means the downs as well as the ups.
On Sadness, Word for Word.
Each line links to the moment it was said or written.
“Sadness may be saying that you cared and appreciated something, and is reminding you of how much that’s true.”
“When I say life is meant to be experienced fully and completely, that doesn’t just mean the ups; that also means the downs.”
“All emotions are legitimate. Never put yourself down for feeling a certain way.”
What He Does With It.
Leans into a hard feeling rather than leaning back, without going looking for pain.
Episode 65: Stop Making This Mistake, It's Time to Step UpRefuses to front happiness online when it is not there.
Chow’s Choice: Is That Person Really Winning Life?Asks what the feeling is pointing at, and what it is asking him to look at more closely.
Chow’s Choice: Is That Person Really Winning Life?