Emotion – a Terrible Thing to Waste!

The reality of ecological waste is familiar to all of us—waste in the form on non-biodegradable materials like foam, various plastics, etc. For example, plastic shopping bags take thousands of years to degrade (break  down) in a rubbish heap.

But have you considered the idea of waste itself? What is waste?

In the natural world there is no such thing as waste. Every species’ waste products provides value to other species, most often in the form of food. Nothing goes to waste.

Waste in the true sense is something that does not—because it cannot—provide continuing value once it is disposed.

That set me thinking about emotional waste—emotions that, when not understood, not well handled, or consciously used to manipulate and injure leave a wake of damage behind that most times cannot be repaired and therefore do not continue to provide value.  

And what does this have to do with marketing?

There is a loud hue and cry rising in the this country, and in the Western world at large, for authenticity and not spin, transparency not shadow, sincerity instead of smarm, honesty rather than deceit, emotional integrity over hype in all areas of life and most especially in commerce.

“Just tell it to me straight.”

And by our own definition, emotional waste is the “use” of emotions in marketing—hype and hyperbole— that do not provide continuing value because the user focuses only on the immediate effect, the immediate gain.

And more so, manipulated emotions create an ongoing emotional drain, because they only appear to be what they are and can never be satisfying. They create hope where there is no chance for fulfillment, desire that can only remain unrequited, need that is unquenchable, and a longing for something that cannot even be defined.

Emotional waste is at the core of illusion, because illusion is, by definition, without adequate return. All the effort that arises out of illusion is a useless expenditure of time and being that not only depletes the individual, by extension it depletes us all. It draws from the store of human connection without returning what it has taken, without providing ongoing value.

This is not so complex a concept. We all can look back into our lives and see the emotional waste we have caused as well as suffered. And the paradox is that whether or not you are on the receiving or delivery end of emotional waste—which is equivalent to emotional abuse and exploitation—you lose on both accounts, because there is no ongoing value. Only bankruptcy.

So be careful with your marketing, emotion is a terrible thing to waste.

Because It’s All in the Connection,

Jim

And to touch into your emotional life so that you don’t abuse or waste it, discover your Soul Calling. Because when your soul calls, you want to be wide open and prepared to hear.