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.
feeling naughty

Naughty

Naughty is a word that adults use to warn children not to defy orders. Along the same lines, naughty is also a word that adults use to signal to each other that they’re in the mood to do something sexy or exciting.

Righteous

Righteous

Centrism is really its own form of righteousness, one that elevates the emotional agenda of everyone getting along regardless of their needs and feelings.

Sǐ Bù Míng Mù

Sǐ Bù Míng Mù

Time does not heal all wounds. It causes some wounds to fester and spread.

expansive

Expansive

An expansive mood is one in which a person is able to think and feel broadly, envisioning new possibilities and encountering people with a generous spirit.

cold beer warm day

Utepils

After a long winter, on the first warm day, you greet the sun with a nice cold beer.

tender

Tender

Tenderness is pain and gentle response to pain.

quiet emotion

Talked Out

When someone tells us that they’re talked out, there’s little that anyone can say in response.

abbiocco

Abbiocco

There’s a special permission people give themselves when they share meals with family and friends. They put their work to the side, and pay attention to what’s happening in the moment.

relief

Relief

When we are relieved, we move about with greater ease, enjoying the freedom that comes with the loss of our burdens.

disappointed

Disappointment

The emotion of disappointment advises us to hope for less, and in doing so, makes us feel smaller in the present.