Everyday Weather of the Heart – The Mood

By Karen Grace Paul

You’re sipping your morning coffee, feeling happy. The sun is out; the day feels full of promise. Then the phone buzzes—a message that stings, maybe from someone who’s been distant. Suddenly, the heart sinks. The lightness from earlier fades, and the whole perspective shifts. What just happened? That’s a mood shift.

It’s not dramatic or unusual—it’s just part of being human. Moods are like the emotional weather inside us. They come and go, often without warning. They color how we see the world, how we relate to others, and how we care for ourselves.

Mood is a sustained emotional state that lingers under the surface, unlike quick flashes of emotion that rise and fall. When moods become persistent and intense—like in depression or bipolar disorder—they may need clinical attention. But even outside of diagnosis, our everyday mood shifts are still deeply important. They tell us something. They carry meaning.

Moods change for all sorts of reasons—our biology, our thoughts, past wounds, daily stress, lack of sleep, even just hunger. But they’re not random. A mood can be a way of getting our attention. That’s why learning to listen to our moods instead of fighting or ignoring them is such a powerful step toward emotional and spiritual health.

For us as counsellors, or simply wanting to be more present with others, learning to hold space for someone else’s mood is sacred work. Holding space means creating a room—emotionally, spiritually, even physically—where someone can be real, without fear of judgment or being fixed too quickly. It’s letting them say, “I’m not okay today,” and answering not with advice, but with empathy. It’s silence when needed, presence when words fall short.

It’s not in having all the answers, but in offering safety. When someone knows they can fall apart in your presence and still be met with kindness, that’s when healing begins.

Jesus Himself modelled this so beautifully. Think of how He wept with Mary and Martha before raising Lazarus (John 11:35). He didn’t rush to solve the pain—He noticed moods. He cared about hearts, He Connected and Understood and then responded. In Psalms, we see David pour out every kind of feeling—from joy to rage to despair—and God never shames him for it. God meets us where we are.

As counsellors and caregivers, we get to do the same. Ask simple questions like, “Where are you today on a scale of 1 to 10?” and then follow that with curiosity and compassion. Help clients connect the dots—what happened before the shift? What’s the body saying? What truth or comfort might they need in this moment?

Moods aren’t the enemy. They are the messages of the inner self. They don’t always need fixing—sometimes they just need a safe place to be heard. And in that safety, little by little, hearts begin to trust again.

And that—more than any theory or technique—is the true work of a healer.