This thing called emotion iceberg, it’s a big deal, I tell ya. Like an iceberg, you see just a little bit on top. That little bit, that’s what folks show the world. Could be happy, could be sad, could be mad as a hornet. But underneath? Oh, there’s a whole lot more going on.
It is about the emotion, you know. That woman, Marsha, I heard. She said a lot about this thing. It is really useful for us.
Take anger, for example. Somebody’s yelling and stomping, you think they’re just mad. But maybe, just maybe, they’re scared. Or hurt real bad. Or feelin’ like nobody cares about ’em. That’s all down under the water, like the big part of that iceberg, you know.
This emotion iceberg, it’s like that. The top part, that’s the easy part. That is what other people can see. It is the behavior. It is simple. Just like my old man, when he’d lose his darn keys. He’d be hollerin’ and cursin’, but really, he was just worried he’d be late for somethin’. All that worry, that was under the surface, see? I know it, and he knows it, but we just don’t talk about it, you know.
So how do you figure out what’s under the water? Well, you gotta look close. You gotta listen, not just to the words, but to how they’re said. You gotta pay attention to how folks is actin’.
- Are they always gettin’ mad about little things?
- Maybe they’re really sad about somethin’ else.
- Are they always quiet and keepin’ to themselves?
- Maybe they’re scared to speak up.
It ain’t easy, this emotion iceberg stuff. It takes time, and you gotta be patient. And sometimes, folks don’t even know what’s under their own water. It’s like explorin’ a dark cave, you know? But it helps with the self-awareness.
I remember my granddaughter, she used to throw fits all the time. Screamin’, cryin’, the whole nine yards. We all thought she was just a brat. But then her mama, she started talkin’ to her real gentle-like. Asked her what was really botherin’ her.
Turns out, the little one was gettin’ bullied at school. She was scared and didn’t know how to tell nobody. That fear, that was her underwater iceberg. Once we knew that, we could help her. We talked to the school, and we taught her how to stand up for herself.
This emotion iceberg, it ain’t just for kids, neither. Grown folks got ’em too. Like my neighbor, always complainin’ about everything. The weather, the price of eggs, you name it. Turns out, his wife passed away a few years back. He’s lonely and sad, but he don’t know how to say it. So he just complains. This is about the anger iceberg. I think many people are like this.
The things under the water, those are the important things. The hidden parts. Those are the things that make us who we are. Those are the things that drive us, even when we don’t know it. If you only see the top, you can never know the whole thing. So if you really wanna understand somebody, you gotta look at the whole emotion iceberg, not just the tip.
It is not easy to know about the emotion. It is really hard. It is like the big part of that iceberg, it is really big, you know. It is hard to see it all, even if you try to see it. I am old, but I still don’t know much about this thing. I think nobody know it for sure.
It is about the anger. I don’t like anger. I see many people get angry. But I don’t know why. I think it is because they are sad. Or they are scared. It is like what I said before. The anger is just the tip. You just see the anger, but you don’t see the real thing.
So next time you see somebody actin’ up, remember that emotion iceberg. There’s probably a whole lot more goin’ on than what you see. Try to understand them. Try to be kind. And try to see what is under the water. You might be surprised what you find. The emotion iceberg is really important for everyone, young and old. Everyone should know about it. And I hope everyone can know how to use it. It can help people, I think. At least it helped my granddaughter. I just hope it can help more people.
