Emotions: friend or foe?

The author Ed Welch describes emotions as the language of the heart.

You can see his point. When we share our deepest longings or admit our darkest fears, we speak emotionally. Or at least we should. It’s much harder to connect with, or even understand, someone who only communicates with us in cognitive terms. It’s so much harder to sense what really matters to them.

Emotions also move and galvanise us. We act upon our feelings*. We admire those who feel passionately about the plight of the homeless or starving refugees or injustice. We approve of those feelings; we are glad when they are acted upon.