feelings and a tool to help us talk about them

"I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them."
- Oscar Wilde

While emotions and feelings are quite different, we all use the words interchangeably to more or less explain the same thing – how something or someone makes us feel. There's no class at school, tech or uni on how to untangle 'feelings' yet we're biochemically driven by them.  Last week I  attended a community wellbeing forum last week out in Lincoln as I'm passionate about helping young people. The forum was well attended by community groups, Youth Council, economic development advocates, paramedics, advocates for those with austism spectrum disorder, teachers, school leaders, community care officers, Police Officers, a suicide prevention officer, Ministry of Education leaders, an academic research, and me. A warm, welcoming. diverse, engaged and committed group.

I took a tonne of notes and tools away from the forum. The Rolleston College leaders were strong communicators and very inspiring  as they shared the ethos of their school, their values and they shared some real gems. One that that stood out was that of a ‘feelings tree’, which they use to help their rangitahi identify, understand and communicate how they're feeling.
 
Seems we could all use a tool like this!
 
Whether we are catching up with friends, family, students, teachers, colleagues, grandparents etc, this gives a common platform for saying where we are at.
 
In simple terms, you look at the image of the people on the tree and pick one that represents where you’re at right now. You then talk that through with those around you, sharing why you chose that one, what it means to you and so on, and they can then ask you questions and start a good discussion. Once you've worked through where you're at, be an active listener and move to the next person. Cool huh?
 
​Give it a go!

“Respect other people's feelings. It might mean nothing to you, but it could mean everything to them.”
― Roy T. Bennet

Feelings Tree

The original feelings tree comes from the Seeds of Hope Bereavement and Loss Activity Book, which aims to help children deal with loss and/or change through nature. You can download the original tree here, along with some good questions and prompts to use it more widely with those you love, or to even check in with yourself.