The Feeling Game

None of what is in the essay right below serves as a cohesive statement.

Rather, the ideas and thoughts within this essay exist as a riff.

A riff on notions of feeling, creativity, emotion, and physicality.

Outside of this riff, there is a game, of sorts, that you can play.

You may enjoy this game. Or, you may not.

No matter what, thank you so much for reading!

On The Nature Of Thought, Feeling, And The Body

A feeling is something that exists within the body.

Or, maybe those are emotions?

Someone once said — the name escapes — that there are only two basic emotions: love and fear.

You can consider love and fear as distinct, unique feelings.

Really, though, they are emotions that give rise to a near-infinite variety of unique feelings.

Or, at least, that might’ve been what this person said.

Regardless of that last point, emotions exist within the body.

You can feel an emotion. You can feel the feeling that exists as a byproduct of that emotion.

All of that is well and good.

But, there’s one part of this that’s pretty fascinating: our emotions and feelings are creative.

Or, at least, they can be; within my own experience, at the very least, this appears to be true.

Just as an example, a feeling of gratitude appears to engender new possibilities and paths.

And, a feeling of gratitude, centered on a particular aim, appears to engender the fulfillment of that aim.

No, this may not be true. But, in my experience, it is.

On a night not unlike the one in which this essay is being written, an idea came to me.

Or, rather, an idea came to me through a book or an essay — something like — and this idea was as follows: emotions, feelings, and sensations are just thoughts.

If memory serves, the point this notion was meant to support was something along the lines of “all things are thought” which, of course, may be true.

Or, it may not.

Right now, that notion seems less-than-true, simply because it’s unclear what, in this context, “thought” actually is and the ways in which one might define things that exist outside of that framework.

Even though this notion isn’t hugely resonant, though, it led to an idea.

Or, more specifically, it led to a little game.

A little game that you can find right below.

The Feeling Game

No, the name of this game isn’t very good. But, it’s good enough.

To play the Feeling Game, you need to get in a relaxed state.

Or, at least, a state of semi-relaxation.

You need to be relatively peaceful and content.

Right within this state, you must go over a list.

You can find this list right below:

• Hope
• Faith
• Appreciation
• Excitement
• Awe
• Inspiration
• Wonder
• Yearning
• Nostalgia
• Uncertainty
• Peace
• Contentment
• Curiosity
• Love
• Magic
• Pleasure
• Abundance
• Mystery
• Play
• Devotion

Your role, within this game, is to go over each item on this list.

To spend at least ten-seconds with each item.

And, as you spend time with this item, to allow an association to arise.

Right as this association arises — it may be a scene, for example, or a memory — you can step into it.

Step into it and allow yourself to experience the item you are engaging with.

You see, every item on this list is, on some level, a feeling.

And, yet, it’s something more than that: a living, breathing experience that exists right now, awaiting your presence.

You can step into these experiences and, in doing so, you can enjoy them.

But, that’s not all.

Rather, you can step into these experiences and direct the energy within these experiences — feelings, emotions, sensations; all of that good stuff — towards, well, anything.

You may have an intention you want to manifest, or a particular goal that you want to pursue.

Or, you might want to appreciate your life a little bit more.

And so on and so forth, infinitely and endlessly; ad infinitum.

No matter what, the idea is to simply take the thought of a particular experience and, then, to dive into that with a sense of effortless ease and, since this is a game, playful curiosity.

You might find something really special when you play this game. Or, perhaps, you might not.

No matter what, thank you for giving it a try!

Conclusion

Remember, you are a creative being.

You are a creative being.

And, as such, if there’s something you want, you can have it.

Your means of doing so may differ from mine. But, no matter who you are, you are a creative being.

You possess powers and abilities far greater than you know.

Please remember this fact and, when you can, please act on it.

Outside of that, thank you so much for reading this essay!

As always, if you wish to reach me, you can do so at “maxwellcakin@gmail.com.”