Try Softer by Aundi Kolber
Week 6: Chapter 5 — Emotions as Information
Read Chapter 5 of Try Softer by Aundi Kolber.
Previewing Week 6 of Try Softer
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 11-week guide when you’re ready.
Most of us were never taught how to work with our emotions — we were taught to manage, suppress, or perform them. Kolber offers a different vision: emotions as God-given messengers worth listening to. Bring whatever you're actually feeling to this week's conversation.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Kolber challenges the idea that emotions are simply reactions to be controlled and reframes them as information. What does she mean by that? What would it look like, practically, to treat an uncomfortable emotion as a messenger rather than a problem?
2.She names emotional bypassing — spiritualizing over our feelings, rushing to gratitude or forgiveness before we've actually felt the pain — as a particularly common trap in Christian communities. Have you experienced or witnessed this? What does it look and sound like?
3.Kolber introduces the concept of "moving through" emotions rather than being stuck in them or bypassing them. What distinguishes healthy emotional processing from wallowing or rumination, in her view?