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| "The Great War" (1964) by Renee Magritte |
The narrator reports that her parents "made a clear distinction between inside emotions and outside emotions, like home clothes and street clothes, things you could peel off at the boundary of home. Emotions you could feel publicly include: joy, excitement, gratitude, and maybe surprise. You could get away with bordeom or annoyance if you wer ablee to scrub it from your face quickly enough. Inside emotions were the rest of them: anger, sadness, fear" (95).
How important would you say it is to maintain these boundaries in public?
Is it important to avoid embarassment or to avoid making other people uncomfortable?
Would you describe yourself as someone who strictly maintains these boundaries?
I do believe that it is okay to express negative emotions like anger, sadness, and fear in public, but it is important to consider when, where, and to what extent you express them. For example, it may be appropriate to express sadness over the loss of a relationship to your friend at a coffee shop, but it is extremely inappropriate to express this same sentiment to the cashier at the grocery store. Expressing certain emotions in inappropriate situations to the wrong people will result in embarrassment and make other people uncomfortable, which are results that are best avoided. Personally, I believe myself as someone who maintains emotional boundaries well, however, I do slip up sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is important to maintain the boundaries of keeping anger, sadness, and fear as inside emotions while keeping joy excitement, and gratitude as public emotions. I believe there is a place and time for everything and showing anger, sadness, and fear is something you should try not to show in public when you can help it. While I understand those emotions can come out of nowhere sometimes, when possible, they should only be expressed at home for the betterment of yourself and the people around you. I think it is important to do this to avoid embarrassment and avoid making other people uncomfortable because you want to keep your dignity, and people should be able to go out in public without worrying about others too much. I would describe myself as someone who maintains strictly to these boundaries. I try my best to keep intense emotions for the privacy of my own home. With that being said, I do believe we are all human and sometimes expressing anger, fear, and sadness in public can be unavoidable.
ReplyDeleteHonest to god I think this more rigid approach to social boundaries and what we agree to be presentable appearances is something that seems to be diminishing in our society. Both of my grandmothers were and are very strict with those things and I’m forever grateful for that.So, I try to instill the same manors and attitudes in my own child.
ReplyDeleteJames W
DeleteI believe these public boundaries are very important. Having social awareness and being mindful of other people are useful skills and, in my opinion, make you seem more mentally mature. Not only would making a scene make others uncomfortable, but it would also drag them into your issues and create more problems later on. People start to talk, and rumors spread, and before you know it, everyone knows all the issues you are having in your marriage because you let your emotions get the better of you. I try to be mindful of the people around me but sometimes I don’t realize I’m being loud or disruptive. I think being mindful of your surroundings saves you from a lot of embarrassment and others being uncomfortable.
ReplyDelete1) While I think it is important to keep some form of polite or professional demeanor in public by regulating your emotions, I think this is often taken to an extreme and the societal norms prevent people from being fully authentic and speaking out on wrongdoings. I think it’s important to remain respectful of others but not at the cost of our autonomy or authenticity.
ReplyDelete2) Like I stated previously, while I think it's important to be understanding of others feelings and respect them for the most part, I think this is often taken to an extreme and, in worst case scenarios, enable people to keep doing bad things because no one is willing to call them out on the things they’re doing.
3) Admittedly, I think I try to stay within these boundaries too much. I rarely speak my mind on issues due to a fear of confrontation, so I simply let my frustration at certain people/events build up. I don’t think this is healthy, and people should be more willing to speak their mind to others, even if it “crosses boundaries”.
Ignore the previously posted anonymous comment, I forgot to add my name to it. Oops...
ReplyDelete1) While I think it is important to keep some form of polite or professional demeanor in public by regulating your emotions, I think this is often taken to an extreme and the societal norms prevent people from being fully authentic and speaking out on wrongdoings. I think it’s important to remain respectful of others but not at the cost of our autonomy or authenticity.
2) Like I stated previously, while I think it's important to be understanding of others feelings and respect them for the most part, I think this is often taken to an extreme and, in worst case scenarios, enable people to keep doing bad things because no one is willing to call them out on the things they’re doing.
3) Admittedly, I think I try to stay within these boundaries too much. I rarely speak my mind on issues due to a fear of confrontation, so I simply let my frustration at certain people/events build up. I don’t think this is healthy, and people should be more willing to speak their mind to others, even if it “crosses boundaries”.
I think that certain emotions are publicly acceptable, but others aren't, for example you don't want to wallow and lament to a random cashier at your local fast-food location even if you need to get things off your chest. if you fail to keep these boundaries then people may not take you seriously or dismiss you adding even more to your sadness. as for the pure sake of not being embarrassed you shouldn't hide away your emotions under lock and key because that's not a healthy way of coping. As for other people I personally wouldn't care what they thought about me, because they don't know the full story. However, will all of my words about this topic I do keep most emotions to myself, that's why one thing I constantly say is "do as I say not as I do, learn from my mistakes so you don't have to make them."
ReplyDelete