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Games with time · 3 minutes

Emotional snapshot

Has something happened — or is it about to? Write it down before memory smooths over the details: what happened, how you feel about it and which emotions are in you right now. The snapshot will come back to you as a letter, and you'll see what's left of those emotions.

1What happened?

Start with the facts. The emotions will come in a moment — they're easier to name once it's clear what they're about.

When is it happening?
Or start from an example and make it your own:

Write as if to a friend — a few sentences are enough. No one but you will read it.

2How do you feel about it?

No judging: mark how it really is, not how it “should” be. There are no bad emotions — each one is telling you something.

Mood
Energy
3Name what you feel

Choose 1 to 5 words that really fit. At important moments we often feel several things at once — even contradictory ones, like joy and jitters.

Suggestions for your place on the map
Pleasant, high energy
Pleasant, calm
Mixed
Unpleasant, low energy
Unpleasant, tense

The more precise the word, the better. “Bad” is only the beginning: disappointment, loneliness or maybe tiredness? Research suggests that simply naming an emotion helps to cool it down.

4Body and needs (optional)

Emotions live in the body too. If you feel something, mark it — if not, just move on.

Where do you feel it?
What do you need right now?
5A letter to your future self
How do you think you'll feel about it when you read this letter? (optional)

We usually overestimate how strongly and for how long we'll feel something. The letter will show you whether your forecast was right.

When should the letter reach you?

The letter contains the event, your answers and the emotion map. It is never public. Like every e-wehikul letter: first you confirm your address by clicking the link in the email.

Why it's worth naming what you feel

Naming cools emotions down

In a study by Matthew Lieberman (UCLA, 2007), participants' amygdala responded less when they named the emotions shown in photos of faces than when they simply looked at them. A word gives you a little distance.

A precise word helps more

Psychologists speak of emotional granularity: people who can tell disappointment from loneliness usually cope better with hard moments, because they know what they actually need.

Memory smooths things over

Difficult emotions fade from memory faster than good ones, and we picture the future in exaggerated colours. An emotional snapshot will show you how it really was — and how much of it is left.

Other games

What matters Questions about values and memories: what you value in friendship, what you're proud of, what you're still waiting for. Your answers will come back to you as a letter. Start answering → Quiz: You in the future Pick a horizon — six months, a year, 3 or 5 years — and answer seven questions. Explorer, Builder, Creator or Guardian? We'll send you the result as a letter to the future, exactly on the chosen date. Start the quiz → A bet with the future You and up to four friends. Everyone enters their own guess, nobody can peek at the others, and on the due date you all get an e-mail with the answers and the prize. You can also bet against yourself. Make a bet →

The emotion map draws on James Russell's circumplex model of affect and Marc Brackett's Mood Meter (Yale). It's a game and a tool for reflection, not a diagnosis or therapy.