Life is fragile. Changeable. A fact that it is important that we learn to deal with. A fact that requires emotional flexibility to accommodate. Based on his upbringing in South Africa and the loss of his father at a young age, the psychologist describes Susan David In this TED talk, Susan David warmly and passionately explains the importance of learning to notice how we feel with self-care and openness. She describes how the way we handle our inner world affects everything. It affects how we love, live, raise our children, and be with other people. Based on research and her own experiences, she describes how many of us learn to suppress and ignore emotions or view them as either good or bad, positive or negative. Susan David also points out how this affects our thoughts, feelings, and stories about ourselves, and then she emphasizes how a restricted emotional life is harmful to our well-being.

”You may think you have control over unwanted emotions when you ignore them, but they actually control you. Inner pain always comes out. Always. And who pays the price? We do. Our children, our colleagues, our society.”

Her idea for increasing human well-being in an increasingly complex world is that we learn to dare to feel and accept all kinds of emotions, as emotional flexibility enables us to react and act in accordance with our values. Perhaps the most important guide we have when life shows its more turbulent side.

Photo: Dana Patrick Photography

Hanne Linde
is a visual artist. She is affiliated with the Danish Arts Foundation's artist-in-residence scheme and is also a trained mindfulness teacher. She has extensive experience teaching both children and adults and is employed by Gentofte Municipality as a consultant in creativity, relationship skills and mindfulness training.
See more about Hanne here.