Happy Monday everyone.

Fun fact - Your mood is editing your reality right now 🙂

There's a concept in psychology called Affective Realism: we don't see the world as it is, we see it as we feel it.

In a study from Lisa Feldman Barrett's lab at Northeastern, researchers flashed smiling or scowling faces too fast for people to consciously register, then asked them to rate neutral faces. People who got the hidden smiles rated strangers as more likable.
The faces were identical - only the prior feeling differed.

Your brain doesn't passively receive the world, it predicts it, using your body's current state as a reference. When you're tired or hungry or anxious, the world looks a little meaner.

A small rule to follow: don't trust strong opinions formed in a tired body. Wait until you're regulated, and the world usually looks different.
Reality lives in your mind, and your mind lives in your body.

📖 Lisa Feldman Barrett, How Emotions Are Made
#mind