Monica Chavez Brownsville – According to Mariana Alessandri, Associate professor of philosophy and author of “Night Vision,” the book invites readers to tap into their dark emotions to not only observe them, but also learn how to fear them less.
“I’m sad most of the time and so, I wanted to write a book that would defend people like me from the idea that if we’re unhappy, that means we didn’t choose happy.” Alessandri said.
She said she wrote “Night Vision” in effort to help people destigmatize dark moods such as anger, sadness and anxiety, as well as understand their importance of building empathy.
Alessandri, who analyzes works from famous philosophers including Gloria Anzaldua, Miguel De Unamuno and Aristotle, said she began writing the book in 2019.
She said popular language like “How are you?” is not helpful in recognizing others’ dark moods, so she proposes a new language.
“Unless you have time to really listen to the person’s answer and honestly, like, don’t ask,” Alessandri said. “Like, can we just banish that? Can we stop saying, how are you and just say hi? It’s nice to see you. Hi. That’s all, we don’t have to say: how are you? Because it invites fakeness.”
Paul Diaz, Physics freshman, said viewing dark emotions as problems is not uncommon, but it is something that should be changed.
“I think that much like Dr. Alessandri, I think that these emotions are just a natural part of being human,” Diaz said. “And I think that embracing them and learning from them help helps us sort of connect with other people.”
Kathleen McWhorter, Psychology professor, said positive psychology explores how people thrive in life, but also acknowledges dealing with negatives and challenges is crucial for personal growth.
“Just remember that it’s a temporary state and it may be uncomfortable for a little while, but it’s really important to not judge it and to not suppress it, because when we ignore things or try to push them away, it makes them worse,” Mcwhorter said. “And there’s this famous quote that I like by Carl Jung, who said what we what we resist persists. So basically, when we resist the anger or the fear or whatever it is, it’s just going to be more of it that comes alone.”
“Night Vision” is available in all bookstores and in a kindle and audio version on Amazon. Alessandri will be teaching Philosophy of Our Darker Moods (PHIL 4300.01) next spring, based on the research she did for “Night Vision”. It will meet from 5-7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, in Edinburg.
