Emotional Literacy Survival Kit – FREE DOWNLOAD

What is emotional literacy and why do we need it?

“We have to have emotional literacy to practice empathy and self compassion. We have to have a vocabulary to talk about our emotions.
The average number of emotions that people are able to name is three: Happy, sad, depressed. That is not enough.
The more accurate you can name an emotion the quicker you can move thru it, the quicker you can address it.” 
~Brené Brown

I was introduced to the concept of emotional literacy by a dear friend and coach, Debbie Happy Cohen a while ago. She suggested sticking a list of emotions to the frame of my door, and every time I walk by to name how I feel. I adapted it a bit and stuck it on the wall opposite my restroom instead, hehe, so that multiple times a day I would have time to look inside and name my emotions, or if I couldn’t come up with one pick one from the list and imagine what it would feel like. This was very helpful not only to my understanding of myself and others but also to my art. I noticed that it helped me express myself more creatively. I also did a course in art therapy and fell in love with doodling and zen mandalas, which are so easy to do.

An artist friend of mine, Michele Stone, who also did a similar art therapy class, had the idea to include what we had learned into a more creative combination of the two and came up with an “emotional colored pie”. Here is a YouTube video of her explaining it. Together we taught it to the Joy Based Community, founded by Debbie, and they loved it.

Why did I make an Emotional (Literacy) Survival Kit?

I wanted more people to try it and had a few friends in mind who would benefit from this exercise. So I thought a little book to print and carry with you might help you and remind you that you have a place to come back to and do some creative self-care anytime you want. There is no prior experience needed; everyone can Doodle (make without meaning).

Here is what it looks like…

You can download the FREE PDF here.

You can see examples of how I used it in this post: “A Doodle A Day“.

Let me know what you think in the comments below…