Summary: (http://www.mortylefkoe.com/wp-content/uploads/marty_lefkoe_headshots_053_2-01_edit_235-150x150.jpg)Usually in my weekly posts I present some information that I think will be useful to you, something I’ve learned that I want to pass on to you. This week I want to reverse that process: I’d like your collective wisdom to educate me and everyone else who reads my blog. The topic is moods. (http://www.mortylefkoe.com/wp-content/uploads/bigstock_Nine_Vector_Smilies_5512848-262x300.jpg)This mental state first became an issue in my occurring courses (http://occurringcourse.com)where the participants and I were trying to identify all the factors that seemed to influence how reality “occurred” for us, in other words, what determined the meaning we gave events as we experienced them, moment by moment? We realized that probably the major source of our occurrings (http://occurringcourse.com)was our beliefs and conditionings. Other relevant sources included our physical condition and our “moods.” But when we tried to state specifically what we meant by a mood and where our moods came from, we were stumped. After a lot of thinking and a bunch of research, I came up with a few ideas, which I’d like to share with you in this post. But instead of ending with my conclusion, I’m going to end with a request that you take a look at what I’ve presented and then tell me and my readers what you think, and let’s see if our collective thinking can figure out what moods really are, where they come from, and how to change them if they are negative. What do the experts say? I checked to see what Wikipedia had to say. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mood_(psychology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mood)) “A mood is a relatively long lasting emotional state. Moods differ from emotions in that they are less specific, less intense, and less likely to be triggered by a particular stimulus or event. “Moods generally have either a positive or negative valence. In other words, people typically speak of being in a good mood or a bad mood. Unlike acute, emotional feelings like fear and surprise, moods often last for hours or days. “Mood also differs from temperament or personality traits which are even longer lasting. Nevertheless, personality traits such as optimism and neuroticism predispose certain types of moods. Long term disturbances of mood such as depression and bipolar disorder are considered mood disorders. Mood is an internal, subjective state, but it often can be inferred from posture and other behaviors.” Some of my thinking Moods seem to be like emotions in some respects and different in other respects. They both can be positive or negative. Moods tend to last longer than emotions. Usually emotions are set off by a specific stimulus (in the case of stimulus conditionings) or by the meaning we give specific events at the time (in other words, our occurrings (http://occurringcourse.com)). I’m not sure what creates our moods. A mood colors one’s perception and behavior. It is like a filter through which one views reality. Therefore it can affect the meaning you give to an event, which determines how events occur to us. Although our occurring can influence the mood we are in, it seems more common that moods affect our occurrings. I said earlier that our physical condition, such as being in pain or being tired, can affect our occurring. It also can affect our mood. In an earlier blog post on emotions I wrote: “Sadness, unhappiness, grief and sorrow are emotions that result from feeling powerless in the face of not having (or not being able to have) what we want, or losing what we had.” (http://www.mortylefkoe.com/why-negative-emotions/ (../why-negative-emotions/)) Now that I think about it, these four emotions have many of the characteristics of moods. Could moods be affected by the same principles that determine emotions? (In that earlier post I explained the source of our negative emotions.)
