In 2022, Selena Gomez launched Wondermind—an online platform designed to help those who struggle with their mental health. It features articles, podcasts, Q&As, and more to promote self care. In one of her posts on Wondermind Ms. Gomez shared a tool that she uses to help her handle overwhelming emotions: The Mood Meter.
“No matter how you’re feeling right now, remember that it’s not permanent and can shift from moment to moment. Using this Mood Meter can help you tune into your feels throughout the day.”
-Selena Gomez
Pause. Do me a favor and think about school. What emotions come to mind?
There’s bound to be a ton: joy, sadness, pride, frustration, anxiety, stress, and more. School most certainly has its way of taking us on a whole rollercoaster of emotions. As we kick off our 2026-27 school year, it’s important that we navigate them now, before any negativity, and all that comes with it, becomes a roadblock to our daily goals. That is where the Mood Meter comes in handy.
How does it work? The first thing to know is that the vertical axis represents the amount of energy you have. The higher up on the meter, the more energy you have, and vice versa. Secondly, the horizontal axis represents positive and negative emotions. The further right you are on the meter, the more positive you feel. The further left you are, the more negative you feel.
For example, if you are extremely happy but also extremely low on energy, then you feel serene, or something similar (Check the bottom right corner).
Furthermore, the meter is split into four zones. The red zone, which contains agitated emotions, the blue zone, which contains somber emotions, the yellow zone which contains lively emotions, and the green zone, which contains tranquil emotions.
But how does all this help us when we feel overly anxious, upset, overwhelmed, and such?
Dr. Marc Brackett is a researcher at the Yale University Center for Emotional Intelligence, and is also the creator of the Mood Meter. He was determined to find the most optimal way to tune into our emotions. In his book Permission to Feel, he writes one of his key observations:
“We know from neuroscience and brain-imaging research that there is real, tangible truth to the proposition that ‘if you can name it, you can tame it.’”
-Dr. Marc Brackett
After school one day, I went to speak with Ms. Kerri Evans, our psychology teacher here at Marian Catholic. When I asked her why putting a name to our emotions is so important, she replied: “It is important because…once you know what you’re feeling, you can tell why you are feeling that way. It helps you to look from a standpoint of understanding.”
How insightful! Putting a name to our emotions helps us to understand what we need to change. Our goal should not be to erase our emotions entirely, because every single one is important. Instead, we label them in order to adjust our anxiety, or our anger, or our sadness and reduce what is harmful and counterproductive. As Dr. Brackett once stated in a recorded workshop session, “Emotions can hurt you or help you. They help you when you know what to do with them.”
The coolest thing about using this method is that you can do it at any time, whether you are using the actual Mood Meter or not. You just need to ask yourself two important questions.
- Am I feeling higher or lower on energy?
- Am I feeling pleasant, or unpleasant? (Even if just slightly)
Then you can picture your mental color/zone (red, blue, yellow, or green), which will help you to best decipher from there.
Whether we are famous singers like Selena Gomez, professors like Dr. Brackett, or just students at high school, none of us are exempt from ordinary emotions (as much as we sometimes like to think we are). But the goal is not to get off of the emotional roller coaster—it’s to recognize where and when we are on it. Hopefully this will serve as a key, dear reader, to help you do just that.
I challenge you to try the Mood Meter out. Recognize and label what you are feeling right now. And don’t be that person who doesn’t do it. Give it a go!