Look after your mind – Jan 2026
Using Negative Emotions Positively
Two of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned about negative emotions is that they contain information. They are telling me something about myself – and, albeit with practice, they can be channelled and focussed. This is especially important since negative emotions, if they are allowed to spiral out of control, can have dire consequences for ourselves and others. It’s wisely said, for instance, that an angry person lives in an angry world. Such that more and more things can trigger that anger, which feeds back to that individual and further clouds his perceptions. This ‘loop’ has been termed ‘perception is projection’. How we feel colours our experience, which in turn reinforces our negative perceptions.
I was once asked during an author visit to a school if I envied the writer J K Rowling. Envy is a highly corrosive emotion. But reflecting on the child’s question I concluded that to wallow in envy would be to diminish the life I had and that wishful thinking driven by envy without taking positive action would be pointless. I also thought about the Qué será principle that what will be will be. This doesn’t mean I shouldn’t or wouldn’t work hard to be as successful a writer as I can, but more importantly I want to enjoy doing it, whatever degree of success is achieved.
Channelling anger
Similarly, years ago I found I was becoming cynical and angry about teaching. Not because of the children but because of burgeoning bureaucracy, the constraints of the curriculum and my particular situation. Rather than live in an angry world, I used the energy of the anger to write an adult horror novel. It contained some violent scenes and I made the protagonist angry and cynical too, offloading my emotions on to him and allowing him to work through them as the story unfolded. I’m pleased to say the experiment worked, although these days I dump any negative emotions in to a diary. It’s quicker and easier!
Admittedly it’s not always possible to find ways of using negative emotions positively. Sometimes life’s circumstances are just overwhelming and we must try to find help beyond ourselves. But I think there’s a lot that can be done and, in my case at least, I’ve always found the effort to be worth it.
Steve Bowkett
