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.
circumspect

Circumspect

While the suspicious worry about being deceived, people who feel circumspect worry about caught in the open.

morose mood

Morose

Those who have been caught in a morbid mood break the social taboo against openly considering the inevitable progress of vitality into decay and death. Being morbid doesn’t necessarily include feelings of sadness… more emotion Morose

drowning

Drowning

There are few survivors who can tell us what it feels like to actually drown. The feeling of drowning, however, is familiar to many. A drowning person is still conscious, still has some… more emotion Drowning

perky feeling

Perky

There are times when we feel especially awake and enthusiastic, times when we’re not only capable of doing more than what’s merely necessary, but feel outright eager to go beyond the minimum requirements,… more emotion Perky

a sinking feeling

A Sinking Feeling

It’s the opposite of confidence. It’s suspense robbed of its uncertainty. It’s just a hint of foreboding, the shadow of fear to come.

Tarab musical emotion

Tarab

Tarab is a purposeful movement, telling the story of how a person can shift from one emotional truth into another.

uptight

Uptight

Sometimes, the accusation that a person is uptight is itself used as a tool of social control, to try to force individuals to engage in activities that they don’t feel comfortable with.

buoyant

Buoyant

Emotionally, we contain many different kinds of lifesaving devices, the psychological equivalents of inflatable vests or floating inner tubes.

up

Up

It’s enough to say that things are looking up, even if we do not rise ourselves.

blue emotion

Blue

Feeling blue seems like its own thing, distinct from the color and its connotations. It’s a coloring of experience in a metaphorical sense, a cooling of the mood that’s related to sadness but not quite the same thing.