Emotional Creatures

Have you ever thought about emotions? Until reading about the topic just minutes ago, I honestly hadn't to any significant extent. What I have come to realize is this: emotions are so very universal. Where did this enlightenment come from? The textbook I am reading pointed out this interesting, never-thought about fact: infants display expressive behaviors comparable to those of adults experiencing the same emotion. Take for example the emotion of disgust. In both babies and adults, disgust elicits these physical characteristics: nose wrinkled, upper lip raised, tongue pushed outward. The thing is, no one taught or told babies that, "Oh cutie pie, this is how you express your emotional disgust; now repeat after Mommy my sweet chubby cheeks....." Absolutely not! That's ridiculous because it just happens. And it happens naturally across the globe.

So why is this significant??? Simple. No matter who you are, where you were born, what culture you live in, we all have emotions. We are alike on this ground. In today's times, common ground is blessed foundation for cultural unity and exchange. Further, when emotions are so powerful to human nature, it's a mighty unifier indeed. Emotions pull together the multicultural fabric into a single-woven soul. It allows us to understand each other, cultivate the capacity to empathize, and compromise. We can relate in times of joy, investigate in times of surprise, help in times of sadness, reprove that which disgusts, defend against fears, and resolve that which evokes anger.

So the next time you smile, imagine how many others are doing so across the world....1, 2, 3, 10 million others this very second....Count that fact joy in itself. And count this as joy, too: We are all humans, and humans are emotional. Oh to the continued promises of this trivial fact.

*Image from KidSpot.com