Good Morning Brown Clee!

I hope that you’ve all had a good weekend. Today I’d like to continue to think about empathy – as it is such a complex quality but one that can really make a difference. Last week we reflected on how empathy is very much linked to feelings – and we watched a video called “One Small Step” which showed a girl experiencing so many different feelings. This made me think – I wonder how many different feelings there are? Have you got any ideas?

Scientists believe that there are 6 core emotions –

Anger
Disgust
Fear
Happiness
Sadness
Surprise

But each of these can be subdivided into many more – this is what I have come up within a word cloud…

There are so many feelings! And that’s what makes it tricky – first we have to identify the feeling and then we have to understand it! Here’s a story called “You, Me and Empathy” – which helps to explain further how and why we need to learn how to show empathy.

We all experience feelings – all of the time – the challenge is for us to learn how to manage (or regulate) those feelings, but also to identify them in other people – so that we can show compassion and care. It’s not easy – but we can all learn!

So today try and be an Empathy Detective – how many different emotions can you spot – and how can you help?