How your inner compass, empathy sensors, and behavior mode shape every emotional moment
We talk about Protect and Connect Modes like emotional “states.”
But underneath those states is something more detailed—
a system running quietly in the background, shaping what you feel, how you read others, and how you act.
This is your Emotional Circuit Board.
It’s not a metaphor.
It’s how your emotional system actually works—
through three interconnected components that activate every time you engage with the world:
The 2 Parts of Your Emotional Circuit Board
✦ 1. Your Inner Compass
This is your felt sense—how safe or unsafe you feel in your body.
It’s your nervous system’s baseline: “Am I okay right now?”
Every emotional reaction starts here.
✦ 2. Your Empathy Sensors
These are how you read other people’s signals—tone, expression, energy, intent.
They decide: “Are they safe or threatening? Attuned or controlling?”
They filter what you believe about what’s happening around you.
Why It Matters
When we misunderstand our emotions, it’s usually because one part of the circuit board is misfiring:
- You feel unsafe (inner compass) → but don’t know why
- You misread someone’s face (empathy sensors) → and spiral
- You act in Defense Mode (behavioral output) → even if you wanted to stay soft
This isn’t a flaw. It’s a system survival glitch.
And the more you understand this system, the more clearly you can see what’s real—and what’s reactive.
What Happens Next
We’ll walk through each part of the Circuit Board in more detail:
- 1.5a – The Inner Compass: Where emotions begin in your body
- 1.5b – Our 3 Empathy Sensors and What They Open: How you read others’ emotions and intentions
You’ll start to see how everything you feel, fear, or believe—
moves through this invisible circuit every time.
And once you see it…
you can start to change how it runs.
This is a place for people who care—about dignity, about repair, about building something better.
We believe emotions are real knowledge.
That clarity and safety should be universal.
That healing shouldn’t require perfection.
Here, we grow. Together.
The Emotional Gradient Blueprint (TEG-Blue™) © 2025 by Anna Paretas
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
This is a living document. Please cite responsibly.
🌐 emotionalblueprint.org ┃ 📩 annaparetas@emotionalblueprint.org