Emotional Barometer

It can be remarkably hard to tell other people how we really feel; it may even be tricky for us to get clear about our own moods. Mostly, if people ask how we are, we'll just say, 'Fine' - knowing that we've provided only a sharp abbreviation of what is actually going on in our minds.

This is a tool to help us overcome our vagueness: cards that offer definitions of twenty moods that we can all recognise but that can be hard to pin down and explain. Here are descriptions of - among many other things - the sense of feeling weepy, nostalgic, anxious, and dreamy.

These cards help us reach a clearer understanding of our inner emotional weather. They can also be passed on to friends and colleagues (or simply displayed on our desk) so that the world can better know what's going on inside us, without our needing to explain too much.

The School of Life was founded in London in 2008. They are devoted to allowing people to think intelligently about central emotional concerns.

This range features tools and accessories and beautiful stationery. These products feature key ideas from philosophy to literature, psychology to the visual arts – ideas that will exercise, stimulate and expand your mind.