Expand your vocabulary 📚

Describe your feelings, focusing on true emotions rather than thoughts.

January 21, 2025

Today's journal prompt dives into the second key area of Nonviolent Communication: expressing our feelings.

Many of us struggle to articulate our emotions clearly.

“Our repertoire of words for calling people names is often larger than our vocabulary of words to clearly describe our emotional states.”

Since most of us have been conditioned to be ‘other-directed,’ we instead focus on what others think we should say or do, rather than tuning into our internal state.

The key to overcoming this? Expanding our vocabulary for feelings.

Here are a few things to remember when describing your emotions:

  • Avoid using “feel” without naming an emotion (e.g., “I feel that you should know better”).

  • Separate feelings from thoughts or judgments (e.g., replace “I feel inadequate” with “I feel impatient with myself”).

  • Avoid vague terms like “I feel bad” or “I feel good.”

Take a look at this list of feeling words:

Journal Prompt

Using the list above, describe how you’re feeling right now.

Don’t rush—sit with your emotions and try to be as descriptive as possible. Focus on expressing true feelings rather than thoughts or judgments about yourself or others.

Happy journaling,

Kelsey

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