The Miracle of Emotions

I'm back to my habit of waking early, before 6am these days, which also means I have to be in bed before 12 midnight. With the relaxation of the MCO lockdown, we are able to go back slowly to our old lives. I am happy to be able to jog in the park again. There's a mixture of joy and apprehension as things seem to be going back to normal: will re-acquire our bad habits? Or will we change for the better?

The news both locally and worldwide are rather troubling. Riots are happening in 25 major cities in the US sparked off by yet another unnecessary death of an African-American in the hands of the police. All the pent-up anger and frustrations are now brought out on to the streets. This comes on the heels of the US crossing the tragic landmark of 100,000 deaths due to the Covid-19 virus. On the local front, there have been a few tragic road accidents due to drunk driving lately. The political situation is also not encouraging as politicians are busy wheeling and dealing behind the scenes to jostle for power, while the nation is distracted and immobilized by the pandemic.

We humans are emotional creatures. When anger arises, it is difficult to suppress. When it has already boiled to the surface, the energy has to be released somehow. Sometimes this could lead to tragic consequences. The God of the Old Testament was an angry one, while the Gospels bring out the loving and forgiving aspect of God. For some of us, this emotional drama between Man and God gives life its purpose and meaning. Life is a hero's journey of trials and ultimate redemption. Our myths and movies celebrate the struggle of Man in the face of adversity. We are touched by stories because emotion begets more emotions. When emotions are focused on a specific goal, we produce faith.

And because we are the emotional beings that we are, we rouse emotions to promote the causes that we believe in. Good art understands the mechanics of emotions and through them, communicates direct to our hearts. Emotions bypasses the analytical mind--it just needs to resonate and everything rings true. That is the power of emotions and anger is part of that spectrum. But emotions are like fire--they could sometimes flare up and consume us. In its aftermath, we sit among its smoldering embers to wonder if it has been worth the destruction it caused.

Like fire too, emotions can be tapped for both creative and destructive purposes. We can use fire with skill to cook the most appetizing dishes or we could raze an entire city to the ground. The first step towards the mastery of emotions is detecting its existence for they are there all the time, smoldering like peat fire beneath the psyche. Meditate on its flickering existence; understand its lifecycle; know what fuels its growth. If we are skillful enough in handling it, we could perform miracles.