Emotion: data and energy

Emotion is a type of feeling.  It arises our of the awareness which builds as we pay attention to the qualities in our relationships to things, events, and people.  This awareness can tell us about the qualities (data) and it can serve as a source of energy for addressing those qualities in a manner which moves us towards what we need.

From Just Conflict:

As I write these words it is winter, a blustery day in February. It is cold and I notice that I am cold. I have a feeling, in this case a sensation of cold. Feelings are data. They are data about the qualities in the relationship between my "I am," the core sense of my identity, and the world around me. In the case of sensations, these are data about the relationship between "I am" and the physical world in which I find myself. Because "I am cold," I will now act in ways that create what I need. I can identify that cold doesn't satisfy me. What I need is warmth. I identify that there are at least two immediate options I can follow. I can flip on the space heater or I can put on a sweater. I make a choice and see if my actions create what I need by continuing to monitor my sensations. This is what feelings are for. To give us the data about what we need, or about when we don't have what we need, so that we can act in ways to create what we need.