Welcome to Wisdom & Sol! If you haven’t subscribed, join our community of 55,695 intelligent, curious folks who want to boost their emotional well-being by subscribing here. 

The Truth About Feelings

We often think of emotions as things that happen to us. Bad things occur → you feel bad. Good things happen → you feel good. Simple, right?

But that logic is often flawed.

Your brain is more creative than that. It's constantly combining bodily sensations—hunger, tiredness, neck pain—with external events, and that creates what feels like a logical emotional response. 

It’s a concept that Lisa Feldman Barrett has explained in her book “How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain” and her related Tedx talk.

Consider how often you’ve felt a certain way and misinterpreted what caused it. For example, you wake up feeling off and spend hours analyzing what’s wrong, only to realize later you were just dehydrated. 

Our brains are always theorizing, even with incomplete information. Brains hate uncertainty and invent explanations for feelings. And they’re convincing. 

The process is so automatic that we rarely question it and accept the brain’s emotional narrative as truth.

So what does the brain use to create your daily emotional experience? Basically everything.

• Physical factors you're not noticing: how much you slept, what you ate (or didn't eat), whether you've moved your body, if you're getting enough sunlight, how much caffeine is in your system

• Environmental conditions that you register subconsciously: an area’s lighting, background noise, cluttered in your space, the temperature, even the weather

• Your mental load: random thoughts, things you read online, conversations you had yesterday, stuff you're putting off doing, people you're thinking about

Your brain takes that chaotic input and concludes, “Okay, you should feel. . . anxious! And here’s why . . . ” 

You can influence what your brain finds consequential.

Here’s How to Provide Better Material

To feel less anxious, don’t just tell yourself to “calm down” (which never works). Transform your emotional reality by curating what your brain uses to craft your feelings. 

Instead of battling runaway emotions, take charge with intentional, practical shifts: Fuel your body with protein-rich meals to stabilize energy, hydrate deeply to clear mental fog, move your body to release tension, step outside for fresh air to reset your perspective, or declutter your space to calm your mind. 

Those small, deliberate actions don’t just tweak your day—they rewire the inputs that fill your brain, empowering you to reshape your emotional narrative from the ground up.

On Sol TV, Brandon McCullen describes how organizing or cleaning can make anxiety vanish. 

Another Sol TV creator, Rachel Kelly shares practical habits to maintain high energy and stay motivated.

One way to do it? Set up conditions that get you going: play energizing music, clear your workspace, reflect on your strengths, or text a supportive friend.

Transform your emotional reality by curating the raw materials your brain uses to craft your feelings.

The Truth That Sets You Free

Your emotions are real and valid, but your brain’s explanations for them are often fictional.

You’re not depressed because life is meaningless—your brain interprets low energy, isolation, negative thoughts, and lack of sunlight as depression.

You’re not angry because everyone is terrible—your brain constructed anger from physical tension, unmet needs, and frustrations, then blamed something external.

The feelings are real. Your stories behind them are usually made up.

Want More: Tools to Regulate Emotions

This Edition’s Sponsor: 1440 Media

Fact-based news without bias awaits. Make 1440 your choice today.

Overwhelmed by biased news? Cut through the clutter and get straight facts with your daily 1440 digest. From politics to sports, join millions who start their day informed.

Sign up now!

Along the Same Lines…

We love you,
Mona & The Sol TV Team ❤️

Lastly, some housekeeping…

If you can't find the newsletter, check your spam folder. If it’s there, mark it as “not spam.”

• Whitelist our email. Add our email address [email protected] to your contacts listor your Primary inbox in Gmail.