“Emotional Realism: A Case for Strategy that Cuts Deeper” Recap

If music is the language of our most personal and private experiences, what could we learn about people — and our nation — by pouring over their Spotify playlists? That’s what Nonfiction Research sought to find out, and what they found is that Americans want to feel it all. They coined this “emotional realism”: an embrace of the true, full range of human emotion, including deep and dark private emotions that rarely see the light of day.

Last week, in a night of emotional honesty, Nonfiction took us through their findings from the past year, speaking with music therapists, critics, and musicians and peering into tens of thousands of musical diaries. Throughout the night, we heard from 3 artists who embody this notion of emotional realism and hit us in the feelz. Nonfiction capped it off with implications for the future of strategy, how businesses can tap into emotional realism in an authentic and productive way, and leaned into our performers for their guidance on creating work that cuts deeper.

We are so grateful for our speakers and performers: AERI who played an impassioned plea to herself to look to the brightness and beauty of nature in her own time of darkness; Christopher Encarnacion who guided us through a series of poems he uses with his therapist that offers a different lens with which to examine his upbringing; Esabalu (aka Jenn Mundia) who tugged at our heartstrings on multiple levels with a song she wrote with a late friend, and Lindsey Wehking of Nonfiction Research who fed our curiosity the whole way through.

Best bites

• “For musicians, artists, even TikTok stars, they’re already playing by the rules of emotional realism. Their success is dependent on being able to embrace deep emotions to connect with their audience and create work that moves us… Yet when you look at corporate America, it is so wildly out of step with this reality. They’re playing by a set of rules that say dark emotions are a taboo.” Lindsey underscored the shift at the mainstream level to take on the messiness of all our emotions and the wall corporate America needs to tear down in order to connect at the level we want.
• “When I know something is emotionally real, I’m scared to share it. There’s a level of risk, and it feels like I have something to lose. In the strategy world, what does it look like to be so real that there are consequences, but you do it anyway?” As both a musician and a strategy director, AERI shared how she knows she’s onto something that feels real in her art and interrogates how that would translate into her work.
• “Starting to write poetry was like trying to talk with a hand over my mouth. When you don’t let certain emotions into romantic relationships and friendships, how do you create the solitude to let those emotions come out in your words and your own life? If the thing isn’t allowed in the room, then how do you know what it is?” Chris mulled over his biggest challenges to creating poetry that feels real, and encouraged us to sit with our emotions, process and name what we’re feeling in order to produce more honest work.
• “A lot of us are scared of vulnerability so we stray away from it. But any time I tell people about the song before I play it, they always come up and say ‘I really felt that.’ People want to hear what’s really going on, not just the general things about your life.” Esabalu revealed that specific anecdotes — the what, why, and how behind the work — actually have the power to resonate and connect more with people than the general stories we, at first glance, think would have greater reach.

Go deeper

Dive into Nonfiction’s report, “America’s Secret Playlists”, and learn more about the ways Americans hunt for deeper, darker emotions, and get inspired to bring more emotional realism into your work.

Keep the vibes going and show our performers some love:

• Check out AERI on Instagram to find her first single and follow along her journey to release her EP in the coming months
• Peruse the passionate lines of poetry that Christopher Encarnacion presented — he’s working on a collection that we’re all eagerly waiting for
• Add Esabalu (aka Jenn Mundia) to your playlist for nights when you just need to feel ❤

Run with it

It may feel intimidating, terrifying, or just plain awkward to let these emotions see the light of day — both personally and professionally. But how much are we leaving on the table if we continue to talk to and connect with others using only 15% of our emotional range? Luckily, Nonfiction gave us some tangible tips and words of encouragement to help us practice emotional realism in our lives and in our work:

Emotional realism is a mindset and spiritual shift. The first step is to allow yourself to go past the barrier we’ve artificially erected as an appropriate level to connect with people on.

But don’t just take it from us. An interviewed music therapist also suggests using content that sparks catharsis — whether that’s music, movies, or memories — to have a structured meltdown and better tap into your emotional needs.

Be the emotional change agent. Any time we try to instill something real and honest in our work, it requires embracing something real and honest in ourselves first. Real change can happen when we create experiences and communications that truly see people through the dizzying disarray of emotions that define us as humans.

In a time when so many of us are struggling to process our personal lives in addition to the events of the outside world, we are so grateful to Nonfiction Research and our performers for reminding us to make space to feel. The good and bad, the light and dark, the ones on the surface as well as the deep and deprived. We invite you to take this energy and continue practicing it in your personal lives and to create more emotionally honest, compelling, and authentic work that recognizes people for who they are, what they want to feel, and how they want to be seen. As for us, we’re preparing for the age of emotional realism (and a dark, socially distant winter) with a manifestation of this concept IRL — our very own Sad Hoodie (thanks Nonfiction!)

With love and solidarity,

Team strtgst

the gst /gist/ is a publication of strtgst.co