What are feelings?

What are feelings?  My mother explained to me that they are a response to our world around us.  I remember just being myself as a child and gradually learning how to label my inner mental condition with my external world.  It was complex, and sometimes confusing. I was an open happy child and that was helpful for my exploration of feelings.  There are so many feelings and variations of the types feelings we have below.  I still find it a complicated endeavor to really be in touch with how I feel.  My ‘Emotatude’ series strives to help us all paint pictures of how we feel so our feelings can be understood more easily.  The next time you wrestle with your feelings think about which of the following categories your feelings fall under. It can be a helpful exercise. This list comes from the headings of the feelings list on the web page:  www.psychpage.com/learning/library/assess/feelings.html
OPEN	HAPPY	ALIVE	GOOD
LOVE	INTERESTED	POSITIVE	STRONG
ANGRY	DEPRESSED	CONFUSED	HELPLESS
INDIFFERENT	AFRAID	HURT	SAD