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Key points
- Kamala Harris has embraced laughter and joy in her presidential campaign, leading others to do the same.
- Positive emotions broaden our perspectives, build resilience, and shift focus from our own concerns to others.
- Focusing on positive emotions in this election can help us think more creatively and compassionately.
I hadn’t realized how much I was avoiding the news until Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and Kamala Harris started doing her thing. For years I had stopped watching or listening to whatever was on as soon as Biden started speaking – his lack of charisma and monotone deflated my enthusiasm more quickly than whatever it is that my kids do to balloons.
As soon as Kamala came on the scene, though, I was surprised to find myself endlessly scrolling, googling, following, watching – I couldn’t, and still can’t, get enough. While I’m typically not a fangirl, I can’t help feeling interested, inspired, and let’s just say it, entertained by her. Notice, like I did a few minutes ago, that I refer to Biden by his last name and Kamala by her first name. I feel connected to her, even though I can’t quite put my finger on why (her being a woman definitely helps), but at least part of the reason is because she has unearthed my own feelings of joy and laughter.
It seems like I’m not alone in feeling this way, even though these attributes of Kamala, especially her unbridled laughter, are appealing to some and upsetting to others.
Why was I so surprised by these positive emotions that I didn’t even notice were missing?
My reaction isn’t unusual – we often ignore or underestimate the power of positive emotions, especially when we’re used to not feeling them. These positive emotions include joy, laughter, and enthusiasm, but also strength, pride, and determination, all of which play a unique role in our emotional lives.
Research shows that positive emotions allow us to broaden our perspectives, think creatively, develop meaningful relationships, and act thoughtfully towards ourselves and others. Over the long term, positive emotions build resilience and coping skills and improve our psychological and physical well-being. On a grander scale, feeling hopeful, motivated, and connected helps us refocus our attention from our own hesitations and misgivings to what those around us might want or need. Although Kamala – like all politicians, and all people – is not perfect, one of her gifts seems to be that she embraces laughter, positivity, and expansiveness, and engenders these feelings in others as well.
Interestingly, the opposite of experiencing positive emotions is not necessarily experiencing negative emotions. Rather, it is anhedonia – an inability to feel pleasure and a lack of motivation to pursue fun or meaningful activities. When we feel down, we tend to recognize our negative emotions and their role in perpetuating our mood, yet we aren’t always as aware of our lack of positive emotions. Anhedonia, however, is an important feature of depression and many other disorders, including anxiety, schizophrenia, ADHD, autism spectrum conditions, and chronic pain. Anhedonia predicts poorer response to treatment and is less likely to normalize following treatment.
Anhedonia keeps us mired in our moods, with our heads down, unable to envision a way out. But the moment something shifts, when things that felt impossible or unimportant seem achievable, a familiar situation may feel completely transformed. Think of a time when your mood suddenly changed, maybe after the grief of a breakup or with the start of a promising job or meaningful relationship – your view expands, and you can think clearly and develop new strategies for moving forward.
I and many others were feeling anhedonic a few weeks ago. And then things shifted and Kamala came around. Something about her is helping us remember that in addition to managing the negative, we need to tap into the positivity, vitality, and exuberance that will motivate us to think more broadly, creatively, and compassionately about our situation and solutions to it.
