The New York Times<\/a>, professors of psychology Dacher Keltner and Paul Ekman wrote \u201cstudies find that sadness is associated with elevated physiological arousal, activating the body to respond to loss.\u201d The psychologists, who consulted on “Inside Out,” found the Sadness character (voiced by Phyllis Smith) \u201cfrumpy and off-putting.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cIn real life,\u201d they write, \u201cone person\u2019s sadness pulls other people in to comfort and help.\u201d<\/p>\n
But attending Tisha B\u2019Av services last year didn\u2019t feel that way. We sat together in a group on the floor, with only candlelight to read by, and listened to the words of the dirge. But the depressing, sluggish, blue persona of Sadness, as shown in the film, was at first pretty much like the image playing in my head.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s worse, my version of Sadness \u2014 perhaps a Jewish cousin of the movie character, who sounds suspiciously like Larry David \u2014 was peppered with a million questions from my other emotions about what was going on.<\/p>\n
From Anger: Why do I have to sit on the floor? How am I supposed to read in this lousy light?<\/p>\n
Fear: What will become of me if I don\u2019t eat for a day? Or have sex?<\/p>\n
Disgust, listening to the grisly detail of the terrible days in Jerusalem under the Roman siege: Can\u2019t this be edited?<\/p>\n
Joy, the odd emotion out on Tisha B\u2019Av: Since everyone\u2019s sitting in a circle, can\u2019t we lighten the mood and break into a campfire song?<\/p>\n
Overwhelmed, I think my Sadness could only muster: \u201cOy.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that was last year. This year, after seeing \u201cInside Out\u201d and thinking on the New York Times piece, I am hoping that Sadness \u2014 so unused to taking charge in my head, especially between the blissful, fleeting weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day \u2014 will feel empowered to step up and give the other emotions a fresh take on the proceedings.<\/p>\n
To Anger, perhaps Sadness will respond: \u201cUncomfortable seating, low lights \u2026 What\u2019s wrong with that? Don\u2019t they put you in the mood?\u201d<\/p>\n
To Fear: \u201cAs for fasting, what\u2019s a little lost protein and carbohydrates between friends? Use the heightened awareness to empathize with others who don\u2019t have a choice about going without food.\u201d (To the second half of Fear\u2019s complaint \u2014 no sex \u2014\u00a0he\u2019ll quip, \u201cMaybe you could read a book.\u201d)<\/p>\n
To Disgust: \u201cWhy cut Eicha\u2019s gruesome scenes? What\u2019s a little \u2018woe and sorrow\u2019? Don\u2019t you watch \u201cTrue Detective\u201d and \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d?<\/p>\n
And to Joy, still itching to turn the day into a sunny one: \u201cI think of a Tisha B\u2019Av service as a kind of campfire, too \u2014 only without s\u2019mores and \u2018Row, Row, Row Your Boat.\u2019 The day allows you to experience lows together as a group.\u201d<\/p>\n
I think my newly emboldened Sadness makes excellent points. At Tisha B\u2019Av, sitting together, listening to our sad but poignant history poetically retold, could bring us closer together. Going without food, sex \u2014 even bathing \u2014 doesn\u2019t have to be depressing. It can be a way of sharing a bond among members of our communities with whom we can stand when times are challenging.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, the thought of missing a few meals still makes me feel a little bummed \u2014 but there\u2019s always hope that another important player, Fantasy, will come to my rescue.<\/p>\n
(Edmon J. Rodman is a JTA columnist who writes on Jewish life from Los Angeles. Contact him at<\/i>edmojace@gmail.com<\/span><\/i><\/a>.)<\/i><\/p>\n
![\"Inside](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Inside-Out.jpg\")