Emotions are the most powerful yet invisible forces shaping our lives. They serve as inner guides in building relationships and as inexhaustible sources of energy that transform our world. They are like the horses of our life’s chariot. When we hold the reins, they lead us toward our highest future possibilities. However, when these reins are controlled by others, we become slaves to the marketplace. Our powerful horses of love, happiness, and gratitude are captured by the capitalist machinery, leaving us as puppets bound by the invisible threads of fear, anxiety, anger, and depression.

Perhaps we need to take a moment to reflect. We rarely pause to ask: How are our emotions and relationships being shaped, consumed, and commodified by the capitalist economy? How have we allowed ourselves to become transactional products—consumed and exploited to benefit a few balance sheets?

Seven years ago, I explored this subtle colonization of human emotions in my poem Market of Emotions. Over time, many readers have shared how the poem felt like both a mirror and a wake-up call—a reminder of how easily we turn our feelings into transactions.

This morning, as I revisited the poem, another question emerged: What if this poem could evolve? What if we could collectively imagine a new world—one where our emotional humanity shapes the economy and our way of life?

In the Market of Emotions

Why insults don’t have an expiry date,
And kindness is so perishable.

Why compliments don’t come with a Best Before Date,
And gratitude goes so quickly off the shelf.

Why is fear produced at economies of scale,
And hope is mined secretly in far-off depths.

Why is anger recycled,
Or sadness reused.

Why not laughter be free for all,
And love becomes a global right!

— Manish Srivastava, Trading Armour for a Flower, 2018 

What if Humanity could Reclaim the Markets

What if insults have the shortest life,
And kindness lives forever beyond all strife?

What if compliments grow richer with age,
And gratitude floods every heart and every stage?

What if fear is outperformed by deep care,
And hope is harvested and served everywhere?

What if anger turns into sparks of creativity,
And sadness reminds us of our shared humanity?

What if laughter is free, like the air and the light,
And love is honored as a fundamental right?

— Manish Srivastava, Sacred Well, 2025

A humble call to action:

As leaders, we have a choice—to perpetuate an economy of fear or to invest in an ecosystem of trust, creativity, and love. What small shifts can you make today to reimagine the emotional fabric of your workplace, community, and self? I’d love to hear how this resonates with you. How are you reclaiming your emotional integrity, relationships, and humanity in the current transactional marketplace? How are you cultivating a new field for future generations?

— from the Sacred Well