Pushkin

When we experience negative emotions, things like guilt or sadness or anger, it can feel

pretty intense, almost like navigating a violent storm at sea.

We might feel buffeted and disoriented, or even a little sick to our stomachs.

At times like that, staying on an even emotional course can feel impossible, like we'll never

reach the safety of dry land again.

I've chosen this nautical analogy for a reason.

As I began reading more about the science of negative emotions for this special season,

I learned more about the excellent work of Harvard Medical School psychologist Susan

David.

In her book, Susan argues that negative feelings are like the bright glow of a lighthouse

in a storm.

To become a wise emotional see-farer, we need to heed the warning of all the hidden rocks

ahead.

If we ignore the light completely or venture too far out, we might get trapped.

The problem is that we tend not to listen to the message our yucky feelings are sending,

and that means we sometimes find ourselves dashed on the emotional rocks.

Susan's interest in thinking more carefully about negative emotions began early in life.

It was born of both family tragedy and the grim politics of her homeland.

A lot of my work is born not in the halls of Harvard or Yale, but in like so many of us

in the messy tendabasments of life.

So I grew up in the white suburbs as a white child in the Partets of Africa.

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