This is what I’ve worked out. This is the progress I’ve made. This the set-back I’ve experienced. This is my recommendation for the best way forward.<\/p>\n
Emotions form a substrate of the conscious entity, that is separate in the same way that the physical body is separate from the mind, but irreducibly connected in the same way that the physical body is.<\/p>\n
Just because an emotion or sensation (or thought) is not a subject of awareness, or even practically amenable to awareness, does not mean that it is not existence. So too, it does not mean that it is not modifying the train of experience and will – by biasing the priorities of the mind’s contents and values, and so too for the behaviours enacted on the mind’s behalf.<\/p>\n
It is possible to see things that were not conceivable as practically accessible. Notably emotions. Notably their sensations. Notably the expression of their sensations.<\/p>\n
Subtleties and complexities can reveal themselves.<\/p>\n
That which appeared as a monolith can unpack itself into layers that talk amongst themselves and share memories in their own dialect.<\/p>\n
It is possible to stop seeing things that had been seen. Notably emotions. Notably their sensations. Notably the expression of their sensations. Subtleties and complexities can hide themselves. That which appeared as a chorus and ecology can pack itself into a monolith.<\/p>\n
It is possible to find that which was lost and found and lost. It is possible to find the emotions that were not known, then discovered, then cast once more into self-denying shadows.<\/p>\n
Just because an emotion is not a subject of awareness does not mean it does not exist. Rather, if an emotion exists then it is a subject of expression (even a muted expression) and reaction (even a diverting reaction). Thus the clues adumbrating hidden emotions are cast in the mould of muted expression and diverting reactions.<\/p>\n
For myself, when emotions are stifled then the distinction between expression and reaction is dependent on tenuous semantics. I may know the presence of an emotion as a corollary of the following, individually:<\/p>\n
When some of these are present then there is (likely) an underlying emotion. When there is a certainty that an underlying emotion exists then I may believe that it can be found. The nature of my thoughts may suggest the nature of the emotion. If mindless thoughts “sound” (as if from a disinterested third-person view) anxious or sad, then there may be anxiety or sadness – however, these may also be covers for something that lies beneath them. If I can find a sensation in my chest – and resist the pain that drives me away, and resist the belief that this pain is the emotion to be discovered – then I may study it. I can ask, is\u00a0this<\/em> one emotion, or is it another emotion.<\/p>\n There are mechanisms that deflect. Perhaps thoughts (reactive, and discursive – claiming a mandate to comprehend and understand the nature, origin, and imminent dissolution of the emotion), perhaps feelings (directing the attention elsewhere), perhaps urges (often vague insistences that something needs to be addressed right now, first, quickly and justifiably).<\/p>\n Walk up. This is what I’ve worked out. This is the progress I’ve made. This the set-back I’ve experienced. This is my recommendation for the best way forward. It seems like Emotions form a substrate of the conscious entity, that is separate in the same way that the physical body is separate from the mind, but irreducibly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[159,90,121,106],"tags":[125,120],"metadata":[],"class_list":["post-801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-blog-posts","category-out-of-the-darkness","category-the-traveller-is-the-journey","tag-dbt","tag-emotions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":211,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2015\/12\/12\/meditating-on-anxiety\/","url_meta":{"origin":801,"position":0},"title":"Meditating on anxiety","author":"Pala","date":"December 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I do not presume that my relationship with my emotions are standard. But any presumed\u00a0deviance reminds me that every person develops their own, idiosyncratic relationship with their emotions. \"Emotions\" is a variegated and complex concept, being composed of so many layers and distinctions.\u00a0Even when just briefly considered. For example emotions\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sad-505857_1920","src":"https:\/\/travelleristhejourney.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/12\/sad-505857_1920.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2762,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2013\/11\/05\/tuesday-november-5-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":801,"position":1},"title":"Tuesday November 5, 2013","author":"Pala","date":"November 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Epiphenomenalism: The thorn of dualism is to bridge two things that have been defined in opposition. Recognized approaches towards tackling this gap include interactionism (there is a third thing that unites), supervenience (mind manifests from matter), and epiphenomenalism (mind exists as an effect of matter without being a cause itself).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":806,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2016\/04\/11\/seeking-the-road-to-self-acceptance\/","url_meta":{"origin":801,"position":2},"title":"Seeking the road to self-acceptance","author":"Pala","date":"April 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A few things have entered my awareness recently, and combined with my present struggles and goals to produce an inspiration. I've been introduced to the DBT skill\u00a0radical acceptance. I've come across strategies for\u00a0reparenting and for\u00a0relearning responses. And have discovered that the creator of DBT herself persevered through psychiatric struggles. Radical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":781,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2016\/02\/11\/meditating-through-emotion\/","url_meta":{"origin":801,"position":3},"title":"Meditating through emotion","author":"Pala","date":"February 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The mind is a morass of sensations that fling themselves against the canvas, splattering their reception by laws of attraction and rejection. The observer may sit patiently, never being moved only moving, never seen only seeing, never the watcher and never the watched. Or the observer may be cast outside\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":456,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2013\/10\/11\/how-to-read-condillac\/","url_meta":{"origin":801,"position":4},"title":"How to read Condillac","author":"Pala","date":"October 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"An important principle I have absorbed is that while the edifice of philosophy have their values, unless one is viewing them as an historian then they are also merely tools and words; useful but not to be confused with philo-sophia: love of knowledge. Let's raise the question, \"Why read philosophical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":891,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2015\/01\/26\/first-taste-of-kasina\/","url_meta":{"origin":801,"position":5},"title":"First taste of kasina","author":"Pala","date":"January 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Editorial notes: Shai starts his seventh\u00a0blog, entitled \u201cThe Traveller is the Journey\u201c. This blog represents the entry point into the third major phase in Shai\u2019s journey. Having previously dedicated substantial research effort to reviewing and documenting the great philosophical minds of the West, he now commences his exploration of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/padotI-cV","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801"},{"taxonomy":"metadata","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/metadata?post=801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Instructions for mountain climbing<\/h4>\n
\nSometimes walk down, but then walk up.
\nSometimes fall, but get up.
\nSometimes fail, but try again.
\nKeep walking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"