We’re surrounded by trite clichés about following our hearts. And spaces where people allege to be into emotional intelligence that are then utterly intolerant of oppressed peoples expressing feelings. Feelings, by the way, that Eurocentrism judges as ‘negative’ in a fake binary that lots of people still adhere to.
Or the same wannabe influencers who speak softly about the wisdom of our feelings then turn around and treat ethical indignation as a state to ‘process’ and ‘move past’ as quickly as possible. While unironically privileging a performance of social media-ready happiness as a superior emotional state. Contradictions much? What anti-intellectualism!
Now, respecting physiological cues can be literally life-saving. Yet, feelings can also be Islamophobic. And classist. And transphobic. And otherwise oppressive. You see, our interpretations of our feelings are mediated by our minds.
So when are our feelings trustworthy? When aren’t they trustworthy? How can we relate to our feelings in a way that doesn’t just smuggle our uninterrogated biases into some mystified realm that’s allegedly beyond reproach? Let’s talk about it.
PS- Yes, this is a lil’ snippet of my book Pulling Weeds & Planting Seeds: on Decolonial Discernment. Make sure to cite my intellectual production if you’re inspired by these ideas & wanna share them out! Don’t steal from BIWOC – have ethics! Don’t plagiarize or my folx will come for you.
PPS- Please help Liberation Spring on Patreon or Paypal so this book can support our discernment in these deadly times.