Disgust: My strongest emotion

Disgust: My strongest emotion

Humans are creatures of emotion. As much as we try to kid ourselves into believing that we’re logical, our emotions often play a huge part in our everyday decision making and our reactions to certain stimuli.

Don’t believe me? Why do you like your favorite show, restaurant, or shirt? Your answer probably has something to do with how those items make you feel.

I believe that everyone has at least one emotion that is dominant and can drive a large portion of their decision making. For some it’s outrage. For others it’s fear. Others are driven by compassion or pleasure.

My strongest emotion is probably disgust.

dis·gust
disˈgəst/
noun 1. a feeling of revulsion or profound disapproval aroused by something unpleasant or offensive.
“the sight filled her with disgust”
synonyms: revulsion, repugnance, aversion, distaste, nausea, abhorrence, loathing, detestation, odium, horror

For the purpose of this post, I’m talking strictly about the feeling of revulsion and not so much out and not about the type of disgust associated with disapproval (I disapprove of cruelty, for instance, but it doesn’t gross me out).

I actually have a very high gross-out threshold, but when I’m grossed out by something, I’m undone. Completely. I freely admit that there are some fairly irrational things that disgust me.

Hotel rooms generally disgust me. I still feel some level of disgust no matter how nice the room is. I feel slightly more at ease in a nicer room. I’ve been known not to sleep at all in seedy hotels (and I’ve stayed in a few). When I stay in a hotel room, I have Monk-like levels of neuroses. I only let the sheet touch my skin. I avoid being barefooted. I NEVER use the ice bucket, coffee machine, or glasses/unwrapped cups UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Even if I were dying. There’s more, but I don’t want to talk about it.

A small part of me dies when I step in something wet with either my bare feet or in socks unexpectedly. It’s the element of surprise that gets me. My imagination runs wild with what the mystery liquid could be.

I can’t handle wet sponges and wet dish rags that have been left in or near the sink to fester. I pray and try not to throw up when I encounter them. It’s a spectacle.

Really, I’m disgusted by anything that is randomly or unexpectedly wet, damp, and/or soggy feeling. Food particles that collect at the bottom of the kitchen sink tops this list. Soggy cereal is a close second. If I touch food in the sink I pretty much freak out and wash my hands raw. Soggy cereal makes me gag. I’ll spit that mess straight back into the bowl. I don’t care who sees me.

When people leave unwashed dishes in the dishwasher to collect before running the dish washer. When dishes that didn’t get completely clean in the dishwasher…I can’t even talk about it.

I’m suffer from trypophobia, which is the fear of holes (according to the internet). I’m not sure if it’s is a recognized phobia, but there are apparently a lot of people who have it. If you don’t know what it is, Google it. I refuse to link any pictures or articles or anything. When I say fear of holes, I don’t mean like a hole in the ground or a hole in a piece of clothing. It’s holes similar to those in lotus plants/seeds (or whatever the heck they are) If you google it know that you will see gross stuff. In real life, it’s triggered by random stuff. Like if something spills and dries in a weird pattern on a table top I can’t look at it. Sometimes I get sick to my stomach.

Sometimes, the feeling of disgust makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and rock back and forth. Other times it makes me want to turn into The Hulk and start smashing everything that’s disgusting. I don’t handle disgust well at all.

Inquiring minds want to know: What is your strongest emotion?