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Research Centered

75% administration, 25% research… life on the alt-ac track.

The Chronicle Blog Network, a digital salon sponsored by The Chronicle of Higher Education, features leading bloggers from all corners of academe. Content is not edited, solicited, or necessarily endorsed by The Chronicle.

The less popular emotions

By Minerva Cheevy July 3, 2012
betterthanexpected

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I am starting to develop a real appreciation for emotions that are more complex than the usual pleasant emotions (joy, excitement, etc.). Today I am basking in: that particular feeling of relief when you’ve gotten yourself all worked up about something that will go wrong or be a huge pain in the ass, but it turns out to go very smoothly and quickly, especially when due to the helpful actions of other people, and you feel a little embarrassed that you made such a big deal of it all, but mostly you are happy that it went ok. I’m not sure what that’s called, but perhaps there is a German word for it.

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betterthanexpected

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I am starting to develop a real appreciation for emotions that are more complex than the usual pleasant emotions (joy, excitement, etc.). Today I am basking in: that particular feeling of relief when you’ve gotten yourself all worked up about something that will go wrong or be a huge pain in the ass, but it turns out to go very smoothly and quickly, especially when due to the helpful actions of other people, and you feel a little embarrassed that you made such a big deal of it all, but mostly you are happy that it went ok. I’m not sure what that’s called, but perhaps there is a German word for it.

Another one of my favorites is envy – both sides of it. Yes, like most people I do enjoy being envied, though not because it makes me feel superior or anything like that. Being envied helps me remember to appreciate what I have and not to take it for granted. But I also enjoy being the envier. Lately I’ve realized that sometimes, it is more pleasurable to want something than it is to actually have it.

One I need to work on: relaxation, a feeling I’ve never been very good at. It often gets quickly replaced with boredom, restlessness, agitation, the worry that I should be doing something.

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One I need to enjoy a little less: anger. And perhaps schadenfreude. It can feel really good to have negative emotions sometimes, but it’s probably not usually a good thing.

What about you?

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