The Mood Board
The mood under the problem is the problem.
Moods aren’t feelings that happen to you, they’re the ground you stand on, living in your language and your body, quietly deciding what looks possible. Learn to see the one you’re in, and you can begin to move. Here are 57 of them, in three families.
Builders
The moods that open action and possibility.
Ambition opportunity → action Acceptance at peace with what is Gratitude life is giving Humility open, never small Responsibility a free place to stand Confidence grounded competence Wonder / Awe open to the unknown Radical Hope hope after ruin Courage bold, unreasonable Love care that won’t quit Respect assume good faith Being of Service serve first Resolve talk → action Trust counting on you Perplexed stay with the hard question Perturbed disturbed for a reason Astonishment stunned open Joy in the Fight glad to be in it The New Beginner beginner’s commitment Rage just anger that moves Exploding Sun all in Mood of a Crocodile relentless seizing
Blockers
The moods that quietly stall you, the road-runner moods.
Resignation nothing will change Anxiety fear of the misstep Frustration it should be working Powerlessness nothing I can do Confusion lost, wanting out Hysterical Industriousness busy at all costs Heroism the lone savior Inauthentic Serenity a forced smile Victimhood out of my hands Victim of Personality I am fixed My Way or the Highway with me or against me The Specialist safety in expertise The Telemarketer scripted, not listening Frozen in Avignon comfortable, closed Overwhelm drowning Panic faster or fail The Dreamer dreams without moves The Morning After trapped in regret Dread already decided it ends badly Grief the future that is gone Guilt I am the party at fault Loneliness no one to make sense with
Destroyers
The moods that corrode trust and burn possibility down.
Mistrust you won’t deliver Cordial Hypocrisy polite, not honest Resentment wronged and silenced Skepticism doubt aimed inward Cynicism given up, hanging on Arrogance nothing to learn Hubris entitled, ungrateful Vengeful Lover hurt hurts back Playing Small safe, shrinking Victimized Criminal wronged, so justified Active Self-Saboteur undoing yourself Despair hopeless before the storm Shame not what I did, what I am
Name the mood you are in, and it stops running the week.
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