johnnymaroney

I've added your email to the list of beta testers. Excited to share it with you soon!

I haven't seen it yet, will have to check it out. Didn't expect it to be a tearjerker.

Got you

Thanks so much for signing up and sharing this with me.

When you say "not sure if related" I would say most probably yes. Most emotional issues come from our childhood. It's interesting that your parents are German too. There have been a few other Germans that said the site didn't work for them and they have trouble crying. Seems like definitely a cultural thing there.

Many of us as kids are told things like "don't cry, cheer up, calm down" etc, etc by our parents and other adults who we are desperately seeking approval from and reliant on for care and survival. So we may not even realize it at the time, but we conform and change to please them. We feel like we need to be a certain way in order to receive their love and care and attention.

I think the answer could be in that one day you suddenly stopped crying. It's interesting that you say you're not sure why. Sometimes we can forget moments like this because they can seem insignificant at the time but they actually are meaningful. Sometimes it can be more difficult than people who experienced something super traumatic and are able to pinpoint that that was when things changed.

What often happens is we either experience or suppress an emotion without much awareness, and rather than letting it pass or move through us, we ruminate on it and get caught in emotional loops. Then that emotion or the suppression of it becomes a mood. Then that mood becomes a personality trait. Then that personality trait becomes who we are. And years later we can find ourselves wondering why we feel the way we do or how the hell we ended up this way, because it was something that started when we were kids and we didn't understand how all this stuff works and unfortunately no one really told us or guided us.

I'm really excited for you to try the app. We are designing it so you can input things like this and it can help guide you to deeper understanding while processing and releasing necessary emotions. I'm building it for people like you where you are now, and also for younger people so they can catch these issues before 40 years fly by without shedding a single tear. It's never too late though. It's great that you are recognizing all this and I hope the app is able to help you.

It could be considered similar to this. In a way the Penfield Mood Organ could be seen as something that gives people emotional autonomy and optimization, not too different than choosing the right music for the moment to shift your mood.

Of course with something like this there are also concerns about emotional conformity and losing authenticity. And questions about what is considered a real authentic emotional experience vs a manufactured one.

Some might consider what we're building "manufactured" emotional experiences. But are emotions elicited from music and movies manufactured? Just because something is happening on a screen or coming through speakers doesn't make it any less meaningful. Our brains don't know the difference and the feeling is real.

Media influences our emotions probably more than anything right now and for the most part is currently being fed to us by algorithms designed to prey on our most vulnerable feelings. What we're building gives you the ability to regain control over your emotions and inner world. It's more about using art, audiovisual, media, storytelling, and guided practices to move you through something real. It's about emotional awareness, exploration, and transformation more than artificially induced control. Of course like any tech it's up to people how they choose to use it. But we are trying to design it in a way that prioritizes the emotional benefit and personal growth of each user.

It's an interesting philosophical conversation that could go much deeper. I appreciate the feedback and reflection.

I thought about making that but there are so many comedy sites and platforms already. Funny or Die, Comedy Central, comedians on youtube, memes on social media, etc.

What exactly am I grifting

You should be able to share the vimeo links