Author: Jonathan

Jonathan Cook is a researcher of commercial culture, specializing in immersive interviews designed to uncover the emotions, symbols, stories and rituals that drive our behavior in unexpected directions.
lazy

Lazy

Every year in early September in the United States, people celebrate Labor Day, an occasion to recognize the contributions of working Americans by staying home from work. Everybody deserves a day off now… more emotion Lazy

Zoom fatigue

Zoom Fatigue

A few weeks after the COVID-19 shutdowns began, people began to articulate a new emotional concept: Zoom fatigue. At first, those who were new to working from home marveled at how much they… more emotion Zoom Fatigue

environmental anxiety

Ecoanxiety

When we feel ecoanxiety, we feel the pressure of global environmental destruction closing around us, squeezing all hope out of us as we realize the extent to which the ecological crisis is out of our control.

disgruntled

Disgruntled

Feeling disgruntled is a feeling of powerlessness, of being insulted by fools who don’t deserve the authority that they have been granted.

awkwardness

Awkward

most people don’t want to acknowledge the awkward path as something that even exists. They feel more comfortable imagining that they live in a world that’s set out along a grid defined by easy binaries: Left and right, to and fro

fastidious

Fastidious

A fastidious feeling goes too far, carrying poison into the florid garden of life.

phoneliness

Phoneliness

When we seek out human company, but the people around us turn to their smartphones rather than interacting with us, we feel phubbed. It’s a momentary insult, but we can get over it…. more emotion Phoneliness

tranquil

Tranquility

A still mountain lake, reflecting the peaks and forests around it, like a mirror, unperturbed by any wind: This is the image that comes to mind to define the emotion of tranquility. Another… more emotion Tranquility

gladness

Glad

The word glad used to refer to something of exceptionally pleasant quality, even to the point of shining in the joy it provoked. These days, however, the emotional concept of feeling glad is… more emotion Glad

hot passion

Torrid

Lust is a physical phenomenon, a biological drive for sex. Feeling torrid is about more than that. Sure, it’s powered by lust, but a torrid passion is felt on many levels at once:… more emotion Torrid