This week’s entry is simply some food for thought.

Have you ever recognized a presence of melancholy emotion while in a state of pure contentment?

Vice-versa, have you ever recognized a presence of joy, even while in a state of pure gloom?

When we experience moments of overwhelming contentment, it seems as though the human brain lacks the capability to remind ourselves of sad emotions.

However, when we experience moments of overwhelming somberness, it seems as though we have a much stronger capability of reminding ourselves of joyful emotion.

Let me re-word the observation of this dichotomy a little bit more effectively.

Sometimes we enter moments where it may be beneficial to remind ourselves of negative emotions. For example, the discomfort we feel while enduring a nasty hangover is quite pertinent at that moment; however, as days go on, our ability to recall exactly how awful it initially felt becomes fainter and fainter. It could be better for our minds and bodies if we could vividly remind ourselves of such discomforting emotions to prevent ourselves from behaving in certain ways. This is just one example, but I hope it somewhat conveys the reality of happiness and sadness I am attempting to point out.

It seems as though when we are genuinely in a state of contentment, our ability to remind ourselves of sadness becomes a bit frozen. 

But when we are in a natural state of melancholy, our muscles to remind ourselves of happy emotions are much more capable.

Maybe this is just how it is for me. Perhaps I’m the only one out there who has this perception. And, maybe no one else can relate or observe any similarities through this imprecise explanation.

But, if it is a shared observation, I am eager to pinpoint more.