Maps, Emotions, and Why Brené Brown Is in My Bathroom

on maps

“I think it’s broken,” explained fox. “It says, ‘You are here,’ but I’m pretty sure it has no idea who I am.”

And bird knew this was going to be one of those days.

Mobile: Layered (Metal + Laurel)

Thoughts while making
I need to come clean…

Brené Brown is in my bathroom.

I know, I know, it’s hard to believe, right?

Fact is, she’s been there all year, sitting on the edge of my tub.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Even when she makes me laugh. And cry.

See, I’ve been working my way through her book, “Atlas of the Heart,” one bathroom visit at a time.

And it’s been clarifying.

And confronting.

Comforting.

Hard.

Helpful.

All the things.

Did you know the average person can self-identify only three emotions: happy, sad, and angry?

Yes, three.

Can you imagine a map or atlas with only three points of reference on it, or only three symbols in its legend or key?

Like “here,” “there,” and “somewhere way over there.”

Or “building,” “road,” and “river.”

How useful would that map be?

Could it really help you get where you wanted to go?

Or would it get you hopelessly lost?

Yet, how many of us attempt to navigate our own lives with an equally anemic emotional map?

How many of us try to steer clear of the nuance of emotion in an effort to … what?

Keep it together?

Conform to a role?

Get where we’re going faster?

But, will happy, sad, and angry really get you where you want to go?

Especially now?

Could it be time to ask for better directions?

In Atlas, Brené offers those directions with an emotional key designed to help us make sense of our waymaking.

She offers a legend with which to unpack, to travel through, those layers of biology, biography, behavior, and backstory that inform *every* one of our emotions.

The way forward is not easy, but as Brené shares, “The more we learn, the deeper we can continue to explore,” together.

What’s one emotion you would like to better understand today?