Do you have certain songs that instantly transport you back to a specific moment in time? For me, that song is Eye of the Tiger. Back when I was in middle school, I began playing an online game called RuneScape. I had a rather addictive personality back then when it came to video games, and RuneScape was my first foray into the world of gaming. Before YouTube was a thing, people would edit together montage clips of them playing the game and upload them to online forums. There was one specific video that was my favorite, and can you guess the soundtrack they used? Whenever I hear Eye of the Tiger play now, I automatically become overwhelmed with a sense of nostalgia from watching this RuneScape video hundreds of times as a kid. In this week's reading of Shift by Ethan Kross, we learn how our senses play a crucial role when it comes to our emotions. Even though humans don't have a direct way to turn emotions on or off, we do have methods to suppress or amplify them. One of the most powerful tools at our disposal is our senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Let's take a few examples. We've already discussed how music can influence our emotions, but how about smell? In the book, I learned that some hotels engineer special perfumes to be blasted through their HVAC systems. From the second you walk into the lobby, you are hit with this subtle scent that associates a pleasant smell with the hotel brand. Or how about that moment when you take a bite into a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie? Instant happiness. This also works in the other direction. When an individual recovering from alcoholism sees a drink, what do you think they feel? With all of this in mind, the lesson to take from this is to be more proactive about using our senses to regulate our emotions. When we're feeling sad, putting on a cheerful song or seeing a loved one can quite literally help us turn our mood around. When we're feeling happy, we can amplify that emotion by going out into nature and soaking in all the positive sights, smells, and sounds. People who are good at regulating their emotions are experts at using their senses to do so. I'm curious, can you recall a moment when you intentionally used one of your senses to change (or amplify) what you were feeling? I'd love to hear from you. Reply and let me know. --- Related Notes: - [[2026 Book Club Emails]] This note was originally created on **March 16, 2026**.