I recently got a smartwatch. It’s a hand-me-down, and it was something I never thought I needed, but I have been thoroughly enjoying looking at how it turns my daily life into data. One of the things it tracks is my heart rate, a number I never cared about before but now find myself checking habitually. While it’s no surprise that running to class or climbing stairs raises my bpm, I started wondering – can this watch also capture how my heart responds to emotions? So, for this month’s blog on the theme of ‘heart,’ I logged a week’s worth of notable heart rate changes, comparing the numbers on my watch to how I actually felt in those moments.
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Wednesday
71 → 91 bpm (@6:00PM, 10 min)
It was day 1 of my little project and it couldn’t have been a better day. Well, the day itself was the worst. But for research purposes, it was off to a great start.
I was under a lot of stress that day, working on finishing my assignments at a computer room in the library all day. By 6pm, the room had been empty for two hours. Everybody had gotten home already, and I got too comfortable being alone. So I decided I was due for a quick bathroom break, and left the room with my belongings all laid out on the desk.
Five minutes later, I returned, and a guy I hadn’t seen before was exiting the room. He held the door for me, and I thanked him, thinking nothing of it.
71 bpm
Some time later, as I walked to the exit of the library, I reached into my jacket pocket for my earbuds. Nothing. Checked my backpack… nothing.
82 bpm
My heart rate is climbing as I hurry back to the room, searching every inch of my desk. Gone. The shock crept up to me restlessly. A flashback of the guy at the door made my stomach drop. He must have taken them.
91 bpm
I checked the front desk, clinging to a sliver of hope, but deep down, I knew they were gone for good. Frustration turned to anger, then settled into a dull, heavy weight in my chest. It was my first experience with theft, and all I could think about was regret.
Thursday
72 bpm → 93 bpm (@11:30AM, 10 min)
I went to my internship office early to take my online class before work. After class, I spoke with my professor, asking for an extension on my assignments. She was firm – rightfully so – but when she bluntly pointed out how unreasonable my request was, I broke down.
89 bpm
I sat there crying in a Zoom room, just steps away from a packed main room where a special board meeting had ended and everybody was laughing and enjoying a catered lunch. My heart was racing with a mixture of regret, disappointment, and embarrassment, and I was wallowing in my sadness and the absurdity of this situation.
93 bpm
Eventually, I pulled myself together, stepped out, and grabbed a plate. The food was surprisingly great, and a kind co-worker chatted with me and gave me words of encouragement. My heart had started to calm down, and I was able to enjoy a second serving of the free food.
Friday
94 bpm → 115 bpm (@6:00PM, 5 min)
I went to a CS ball with my boyfriend, and honestly, it was pretty mediocre. The catered Thai food was okay, and I pretended to enjoy meeting friends of friends. The music was fun, so it kept me in an upbeat mood.
Then I ran into a close friend unexpectedly.
115 bpm
The rush of excitement was instant. My chest felt light, my body buzzing with warmth at the surprise. It was a feeling of comfort of meeting someone familiar in a space where I felt like an outsider.
Saturday ~ a three part story ~
Morning
83 bpm → 141 bpm (@10:40 AM, 1 hour)
I spent the morning volunteering for Restaurant 2 Garden at the Danny Woo Community Garden. Climbing staircases and carrying buckets naturally pushed my heart rate up.
fluctuating between 90 and 100 bpm
I climbed some stairs and carried heavy buckets.
141 bpm
But despite the exertion, my body felt light—I was moving with ease, unburdened by stress. The sun was out, the air was crisp, and working on compost with the group felt genuinely good.
As we were wrapping up, a Korean woman called to us from the parking lot below, asking for help carrying her soil up to her garden. At first, there was a moment of hesitation. But I said I didn’t mind helping, and immediately, others chimed in, agreeing with me. It was small, but something about that moment felt wholesome– a small affirmation of the kind of community I want to be part of. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment in my watch app, but I felt it in my heart– a warmth, a quiet hopefulness.
Daytime
89 bpm → 106 bpm (@1:30 PM, 5 min)
After volunteering, my friends and I went to an Asian supermarket. At the snack corner, we sampled some Karamucho chips, chatting idly. Then the woman at the booth nudged us to the right and told us to be careful.
89 bpm
I turned my head and saw him. A man on the floor, surrounded by four or five security guards. He was screaming, “LET GO OF ME” and “THIS IS CRAZY,” struggling against their grip. My heart rate climbed as I watched, frozen in shock. The guards were hitting him, shoving him back down every time he tried to move. His pants were slipping from the wrestle, revealing half of his butt.
106 bpm
I stood there, caught between confusion and unease, trying to process what I was witnessing. Was this justified? What did the guy do? I had so many unanswered questions, but we left the scene soon after, while the struggling scene continued, with a heavy weight in my chest.
Night
90 bpm → 113 bpm (@10:00 PM, 2 hours)
Later that night, I went to a birthday party. My heart rate hovered above 100 bpm, likely from excitement and the energy of the crowd. At 11:45, it suddenly jumped from 108 to 129– maybe from catching up with a friend, or maybe just from being caught up in the moment.
Then I left the party and headed to my boyfriend’s place, feeling a rush of excitement as I saw him.
142 bpm
Then, I got ready to sleep while inebriated. I remember swaying side to side while I did my skincare.
79 bpm
After half an hour or so, I had reached a stable heart rate, but was feeling off.
Then, all of the sudden, the nausea hit me in the waves.
108 bpm
I realized I needed to throw up.
And then, just like that, it was over.
67 bpm
I lay down, my body settling. My heartbeat slowed, steady and quiet. Sleep took over.
Sunday
76 → 98 bpm (@1:30PM, 25 min)
After a night out, all I wanted to do was stay at home. So I did just that. But even when I didn’t leave the house, there seemed to be some spikes in my heart rate.
In the afternoon, I worked on my digital archive project. At first, I was just going through the motions, but then I found something exciting, and it made my chest feel stronger, a little rush of curiosity and discovery. It wasn’t a dramatic spike, but the numbers reflected this thrill.
78 → 98 bpm (@8:40PM, 5 min)
Later in the evening, I mindlessly opened Instagram. Within minutes, my heart rate jumped from 78 to 98 bpm. I’m not sure why. There was no alarming post, no sudden notification, nothing consciously stressful. But something in my body reacted– maybe a subconscious tension, or the anticipation of getting to scroll on social media. I didn’t notice a thing by myself, but perhaps the social media addiction is deeper than I thought.
Monday
80 → 95 bpm (@10:30, 10 min)
In class, I held my thoughts for a while, debating whether to speak up. My heart ticked up with nerves before I finally raised my hand. The moment passed quickly, but the lingering tension sat in my chest.
90 → 110 bpm (@1:50PM, 20 min)
I grabbed a sandwich on campus and tried to cram the last bit of my homework before the 2:00 deadline. Then I rushed into a Zoom pod for my internship meeting. The stressful multitasking had my heart racing.
110 bpm
Once the meeting started, the stress faded into something dull. I sat there, listening but feeling somewhat useless. I had nothing to contribute, and boredom settled in. My heart slowed, steady but disengaged.
75 bpm
After the meeting, I had a mock interview practice with my boyfriend. Nerves crept in.
90 bpm
What if I don’t do well? I wanted to present myself well to him but I worried that I would disappoint him. I felt a tension in my heart, heart rate climbing and dipping with my thoughts.
110 bpm
With the adrenaline of finishing the interview practice, I had apparently reached a peak. But emotionally, I felt calm and steady during the practice.
85 bpm
On my way to dinner with my internship cohorts, I ran into some friends. The familiar faces and spontaneous conversation lifted my mood.
95 bpm
At dinner, my internship coordinator put me on the spot for a toast.
115 bpm
I had never given a toast before. My pulse jumped a little bit, and I fumbled for words, feeling the weight of all eyes on me. But somehow, I got through it. The nerves stayed, but I felt a small sense of accomplishment.
Tuesday
72 → 167 bpm (@3PM, 20 min)
I was running late to class – literally. I sprinted across campus, feeling my heart pound harder with every step.
78 → 90 bpm (@4:10PM, 5 min)
I presented my group’s idea in class. It started fine, but when the other students asked me a question I wasn’t quite confident about, I felt my face flush. My mind scrambled to form an answer on the spot, and I could feel my heart beating fast.
82 → 86 bpm (@6:10PM, 5 min)
In the HOMEROOM meeting, my friend surprised me with my favorite chips and a beer as a gift for people whose birthdays don’t happen during when HOMEROOM is active. I already knew about the chips as I wrote that in the database myself but I didn’t expect the beer, especially the kind I liked. The small gesture caught me off guard in the best way, and I felt excitement and warmth for this community.
86 → 112 bpm (@8:15PM, 5 min)
Later in the evening, my boyfriend and I dashed to catch a bus in Capitol Hill for a dinner plan with friends. It was so fun to spontaneously sprint together in Cap Hill at night.
Wednesday
78 → 116 bpm (@11:08 AM, 30 min)
An adrenaline rush hit as I finally wrapped up a long report for my internship. The stress of last-minute cramming built up, but the surge of relief after finishing was just as sharp.
75 → 86 → 67 bpm (@3:10 PM, 10 min)
My heart rate jumped when I met with my advisor, uncertain about if I needed to change my schedule for next quarter. But when she reassured me that I could count on another class and that I didn’t have to worry about this current course, I felt the tension release almost instantly. My heart rate dropped to 67 bpm, a physical sigh of relief.
72 → 81 → 67 → 86 → 72 → 94 → 77 → 92 bpm (@7:30 PM, 2 hours)
For two hours, my heart rate fluctuated unpredictably in a zigzag pattern. There was no clear trigger, just an ebb and flow of nervous energy and restlessness for my interview that night.
92 → 97 bpm → 71 bpm (@11:00, 1 hour)
During my interview, my heart settled into a steady climb, small peaks of tension keeping me on edge. Then, the moment the interview ended and I exited from the zoom call, my body registered the relief immediately: a sharp drop from 92 to 71 bpm as I finally relaxed.
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In this week of tracking my heart rate, I explored the idea of creating a numerical representation of something as intangible as emotions. The numbers are merely a symbol– and through reflecting on my week full of ups and downs, I’ve realized that these numbers can’t alone capture the depth of what I was experiencing. Some of my most profound feelings– anxiety, disappointment, joy, excitement– doesn’t register in the tracker as significant. Data points are objective, but they don’t tell the full picture. But I hope that this project offered a glimpse, a pattern, a reflection of how I move through the world, even if the most important parts remain unmeasured.
