The Motion has been Adopted
The motion received 87% approval. There were 31 votes – Yes: 27, No: 4
A working group to explore the content and layout of an updated Feelings slide will be able to convene. All interested members are invited to participate.
This proposal is being offered by Cat.
Issue: I move that interested members of our meeting update the Feelings slide, used during Friday’s Self-Care, creating a different visual to assist members in connecting to their feelings.
Background: During the Friday “self-care” part of the meeting, room hosts share a feelings checklist entitled “How am I feeling right now?” to assist members to explore their feelings.
The present checklist is grouped into categories, such as angry, fearful, sad, affection, etc. This is a very helpful prompt, but it is not very nuanced. (See our current slide linked below)
Appendix D of the ACA Loving Parent Guidebook is entitled Feelings, Needs & Physical Sensations Sheet. It is divided into four categories (feelings when needs are met, feelings when needs are not met, universal human needs, and physical sensations). This may be more useful and instructive for members. As an added benefit, a new slide reflecting this information will be resourcing approved ACA literature.
There are plenty of other feelings wheels or feelings checklists online and in use at other meetings. One that I find particularly helpful for myself is the Vocabulary of Emotions/Feelings from the website of Tom Drummond, a retired early childhood educator, who provides free resources in the public domain for anyone to use. It groups feelings into general columns and each column is divided into three groups of intensity of that theme (e.g., under the “anger” column, one example of an intense feeling could be infuriated (strong feeling), exasperated (medium) and dismayed (light).
In addition to updating our slide, the members focused on this task could also suggest updating the associated resources that are on our website, perhaps offering fuller descriptions of the information touched on in the new Friday slide.
I hope the group together can explore this topic fully, so that our connection with our feelings can deepen and evolve. I believe that regularly updating our tools and slides can help in this regard.
Thank you for considering this!
References and Resources:
From our SMR meeting – the current ‘Feelings’ slide:
https://www.acamorning.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/SMRslidesFri1-22.001.jpeg
From the Loving Parent Guidebook of the ACA World Service Organization – a listing of feelings / needs / physical sensations:
From Tom Drummond – an organized list of emotions and feelings:
https://tomdrummond.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Emotion-Feelings.pdf
I really like the idea of a new feelings slide. My preference is for the one from the Loving Parent Guidebook.
Great idea, not sure how these will fit on the slide, though i prefer the LPGB version.
I really love the appendix D BRB version because it helps me know when I have a need so I can bring in my loving parent or other parts to meet it. also really appreciate the noticing body sensations part because im actively working on being embodied and recognizing which which physical sensations go with which feelings.
What a fresh idea! I think it would be beneficial to learn and experience new ways to consider my feelings. I support developing one or more additional slides that can be voted upon for use, including the option to adopt multiple slides and allow room-host preference.
I’d like to refresh/update our feelings slide.
I prefer the feelings list & needs in the LPG.
I support switching to the LPG feelings slide
To me, both the LPG slide and the Tom Drummond slide have way too many words on them to be useful for use in the brief self-care portion of our morning meeting. If we need more words to choose from, I would prefer the smaller format and the colorful graphics of the feelings wheel which is accessible on the acamorning website here: https://www.acamorning.org/the-feelings-wheel/
from the BRB Affirmations p 329: My feelings are OK even if I am still learning how to distinguish them. Looking at Appendix D in the Loving Parent Guidebook (LPG) it seems “busy” and a bit advanced to me. I like the concept of a slide that’s a primer.
Whatever is decided by group conscience, I hope it’s kept simple with the emphasis that all feelings are OK especially the uncomfortable ones and not to run, stuff, or feel shame when they arise. The counselor that suggested attending ACA was continually helping me with the concept that feelings are giving me information just like the weather for example to make a decision about what to wear. I personally like the resource of children’s books that help children understand or focus on feelings.
Whatever the group conscience, I hope it’s kept simple and considers the newcomer as well. Recovery can be overwhelming at times, in my experience, and never having been mentored with feelings as a child, they can bring up various reactions such as guilt, shame, and so forth which may be historical. I also like the idea of change on a trial basis allowing the change to be revisited (if there is a change) to weigh if it is effective or not. thank you
I like some of the alternative feelings list, but I think they look busy and there are so many words that they may be too small and hard to read on one slide online. I think the current slide works well and is easy to read.
For me the Loving Parent listing of feelings and needs is a helpful tool. I appreciate the Drummond listing and suggest it be referred to as an additional resource to support the Friday morning self care activity vs having it on the screen during the meeting. It looks like a wonderful resource and too much to process during the short time allotted for the activity the meeting.
Thank you.
I tried out the Appendix D Feelings Sheet today during the meeting, and I found my response in the self care section to be richer, deeper, more healing
Yes, this is a great idea
Our current slide:
+ Simpler (‘K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple, Sweetheart!’)
+ Has a more user-friendly graphic layout that’s easily readable (e.g., presentation of section headings)
+ Good prompt question at the top of page: “How am I FEELING right now?
– No heading titles or distinctions for its 3 main sections; unclear flow of how it’s organized
Loving Parent Guidebook’s list:
+ has distinctions: “Feelings when needs are met” and “Feelings when needs are not met”
– Too complex for our application (“Universal Human Needs” and “Physical Sensations” sections add to complexity)
List based on Marshall Rosenberg / NVC:
• Lists core, basic feelings at center, and logically expands out from them
– Too advanced for our application
– Circle graphic contains too much for our application
Tom Drummond’s list:
+ Includes intensity levels of feelings (“Light”, “Medium”, and “Strong”)
– Too advanced for our application
So, is it possible to consider modifying our current slide by integrating some of the advantages of other lists (e.g., re-choosing/reorganizing the feelings that are listed; including intensity levels of feelings; having distinctions of “Feelings when needs are met” and “Feelings when needs are not met”) into its simpler, readable graphic layout with prompt question at top?