Emotions: 5 emotional ingredients in the sauce of life

It is quite a simple task for any self-respecting person to try to establish an analogy between the emotions or feelings that we can experience throughout our lives and the different flavors that we taste, coming from the mixture of foods that make up our diet.

That pleasure that we experience when tasting excellent food, which goes through our 5 senses and immerses us in a kind of state of fullness and harmony, due in part to a great chef's skill in combining and cooking food, can be similar to the state of abstraction underlying the contemplation of a beautiful natural landscape or the first days of a love that seemed impossible, for example.

• Related article: "Emotional psychology: main theories of emotion"

The taste of emotions

Life can also evoke certain flavors at certain times, as has been suggested in endless ways. literary works, songs or films, which are part of the collective imagination as synesthesia emotional. In this way, we could find the following associations among others:

1. Sweet

Following the popular philosophy, we understand that sweet moments are those that are associated with moments of success, whether personal, professional or similar. We understand that a person is going through a sweet moment when things are going in line with his expectations or even better. We could then compare said flavor with emotions such as joy or sentimental states such as euphoria, satisfaction, love, etc.

2. Salty

To say that a person is salty (or 'salá' as the Andalusians would say) or that they have a salt shaker, fundamentally has to do with the ability that said person has to overcome their fear of ridicule or what others will say the rest. That is to say, to be oriented towards having fun in everyday situations or in short, to enjoy certain events, knowing how to add another pinch of salt.

3. Bitter

When we imagine a bitter person, we usually imagine a person angry with the world, whiny or moody, who has no difficulty expressing her anger left and right. Sinister. We can also think of sad, or melancholic people who find difficulties to be able to enjoy their lives, regardless of whether or not there are objective factors that justify it.

• You may be interested in: "73 phrases of melancholy to understand this feeling"

4. Spicy

Saying that a situation has become spicy or that this or that person is "spicy", normally evokes a certain state of arousal of a sexual nature mainly, related to emotional tension of a pleasant nature, in most cases, aroused by a "hot tone" situation. It is true that it cannot be said that everyone enjoys spicy food, in the same way that there are people who, either because of inexperience, personal modesty or various additional factors, find it difficult to experience this exciting sensation as pleasant.

5. Acid

In the case of the sour taste, I cannot stop thinking of a type of humor without filters, in the purest style of Hugh Laurie -protagonist of the "House" series-, in which they express their own feelings without excessively considering those of others.

It also perfectly reflects the states of pressure to which certain people with high levels of self-demand are subjected, who experience anxiety, stress or various emotional tensions, derived from obsessive styles of thinking in a pessimistic premonitory format, also called concerns.

Curiously, these emotional states are associated with digestive disorders, mainly gastritis, heartburn and other psychosomatic problems.

Emotional regulation is like making a recipe

Learning to manage our emotions, knowing how to interpret the situations and ups and downs that life brings us is a art, an art that can be learned, in the same way that a magnificent chef combines the ingredients to enrich his sauces, we can learn to favor certain interpretations of our reality, so that our vital tasting is more complete. Bon appetit!