My tastes lean toward the more negative, angry and eclectic.

The dim light from the overhead lamp flickered slightly, casting long, uneven shadows across the small, cluttered room. Outside, the wind howled through the trees, its sound almost like a distant echo of frustration. Jack sat slouched on the couch, his hands buried in his pockets, his eyes staring at the television but not really seeing it. Jeeny stood by the window, her back to him, looking out at the stormy night, her silhouette framed by the glow from the streetlight outside. The atmosphere between them was thick with a mix of tension and something unspoken.

Host: The air was heavy, each of them lost in their own thoughts, yet aware of the presence of the other. It was as if the emotions swirling between them could only be understood through the words they had yet to speak.

Jeeny: “I’ve been thinking about what Josh Silver said: ‘My tastes lean toward the more negative, angry, and eclectic.’ Do you think that’s true for you, Jack? Do you think your emotions lean toward the negative side, or is it something you’ve been forced into?”

Jack: He didn’t immediately respond, his eyes still fixed on the screen, his face blank but heavy with the weight of the question. After a long moment, he turned to her, his voice rough, the words coming out slowly. “Maybe it’s just who I am. Anger feels natural to me. It's like a constant companion, you know? Everything I’ve gone through, it’s all just built up. Maybe it’s not so much what I lean toward as much as what I've been shaped into.”

Jeeny: She turned, her eyes searching his, the concern in them evident. “But why do you let it shape you, Jack? I get that the world hasn’t always been kind to you, but why let anger define how you feel about everything around you?”

Jack: He let out a short, bitter laugh, the sound of it tinged with a sharp edge. “It’s not like I’m choosing it, Jeeny. It’s just there. Everything that’s happened, everything that’s built up inside me — it just gets too much to ignore. And it’s easier to be angry than to feel everything else. Anger feels like power. It’s something I can control.”

Jeeny: She stepped closer, her voice gentle, yet carrying the weight of her sincerity. “But anger doesn’t give you power, Jack. It takes it. It controls you, holds you back from seeing anything else. Negative emotions like that don’t let you move forward, they just keep you stuck. The anger you feel is real, but it doesn’t define you. It doesn’t have to.”

Jack: He shook his head, a flash of frustration crossing his features. “You think I haven’t tried to move past it? You think I don’t want to let go of the anger? But when the world keeps pushing you down, keeps giving you reasons to be upset, to be bitter, it’s hard not to fall into it. I don’t know how to be anything else. Maybe anger is the only thing I’ve got left.”

Jeeny: “But that’s just it, Jack. Anger might seem like it’s protecting you, but it’s just another way of letting the world control how you feel. If you let it rule you, it becomes all you are. It takes everything else away — the possibility of peace, of hope, of actually being able to move forward. I get it. Anger has a way of feeling like the only option. But what if you gave yourself the chance to feel something else? What if you stopped leaning into the negativity, even if it’s all you’ve known?”

Host: The room seemed to quiet, the weight of Jeeny’s words hanging in the air. Jack sat still, his gaze now distant, as if he were measuring her words against his own thoughts. The storm outside continued, its howls echoing in the background, but inside, the stillness between them grew, a space filled with both uncertainty and a quiet yearning for something more.

Jack: “I don’t know if I can just stop being angry. I don’t know how to feel anything else.”

Jeeny: Her voice softened, but there was a quiet strength in it. “You don’t have to let go of it all at once, Jack. You don’t have to pretend like the anger doesn’t exist. But you can choose how much of it you let in, how much of it you let define you. Anger doesn’t have to be the only thing you lean into. There’s more out there, even if it’s hard to see it.”

Jack: He looked at her, his eyes still shadowed by the weight of everything he had been holding inside, but there was a flicker of something else — something not quite hope, but the first seed of it, perhaps. “Maybe... maybe I can try. Try to not let the anger be all I am. Maybe there’s something else, something better than being angry all the time.”

Host: The air between them shifted again, lighter, as if the words had opened up a door to something new, even if Jack wasn’t sure yet what that something was. The storm outside continued, but in the quiet of their conversation, it felt like the first crack of light breaking through the clouds.

Jeeny: She smiled gently, the kindness in her eyes like a small flame against the dark. “You don’t have to have it all figured out, Jack. But it’s a start. Change isn’t easy, but it begins when you choose to see something different.”

Jack: “Yeah. I guess it does.”

Host: The quiet between them lingered, not uncomfortable, but full of possibility. The night was deepening, but the shift that had started in Jack’s mind hadn’t fully taken hold — yet the smallest light had been lit. It wasn’t the end of the story, not yet, but it was a new beginning. The anger that had so often ruled him now felt just a little less heavy, and for the first time in a while, Jack felt the possibility of a different path.

The world outside was still loud, but inside, there was a quiet moment of clarity.