It’s too sad. Keltner and Ekman in The New York Times: Keltner and Ekman applaud the film for portraying a few major insights from the science of emotion—mainly, that “emotions organize—rather than disrupt—rational thinking” and they also organize our social lives. well as our social lives. But the quibble over sadness is no small one. Downplaying sadness often makes its way into conversations about well-being and meditation: should we be meditating to become more happier, blissed-out individuals, and leave “negative” emotions in the back seat? For Susan Piver, a longtime meditation instructor, sadness has importance to happiness. She writes: Basically, happiness is not all about smiles and feel-good platitudes. In Mindful‘s June 2014 issue, we discuss how sadness plays a role in all of our emotions—and through meditation, we can begin to appreciate “the necessity of sadness, how it grounds us and keeps us from becoming superficially cheery—glossing over real pain.”
