Wednesday 9 September 2009

Underneath The Lemon Tree..

One of the wonders of the human mind, is its capability to explore the behavioural discourse of emotions, an attempt to understand one's own self, and in doing so, removing the proverbial blindfold over one's mind, and pursuing greater understanding of our place in this infinite universe.

There are two seemingly independent emotions: Sadness, and Anger, yet both are probably created from the same seed, but their path of growth takes them in separate directions. You see, Sadness; is a reaction of the soul to an exterior action; from someone or something that is perceived to be superior; a loved one who's been granted that superior status in our emotions to other people who have less influence over our emotional structure, like passers by outside our door, or; something that holds high regard in our hearts and minds: a job, a material possession, in which case it is transformed as it matures into a 3rd emotion; disappointment, and makes its own path of emotional discourse.

Anger on the other hand, is a reaction to something that's perceived to be inferior. The behavioural discourse of anger is a physical or verbal show of force, an attempt to assert our own superior status against another in an argument, or to shield our feeling of inferiority through a Don Quixote fashioned exercise of force, a subconscious attempt to substitute our genuine feeling of defeat; both collective, and individual, An attempt to convince ourselves and our surroundings of the virtue of this choice of reactionist emotion, in acheiving a mini satisfaction which gives us the illusion of victory in this man eat man world.

Although, and since one is exploring human behaviour, and trying to reach one's own peace, Sadness is a more positive emotion, despite its negative discourse, as it's directed within, unlike anger which is an outward emotion directed towards others, and seeks satisfaction in vengeance. Sadness lends delicacy to emotions, as it cleanses the soul from its perceived wrongs as it involves a feeling of guilt, a correction mechanism of the soul, an instinctive attempt to make it more susceptible to good, more accepting and forgiving, and ultimately, more patient, and in doing so, reaching an inner satisfaction that's felt but not desplayed, as it results in getting closer to the soul's original nature of rejecting injustice, abuse and offence; against one's self and others, which is, at the end; the ultimite wisdom of all.

"الحكمة ضالة المؤمن فحيث وجدها فهو أحق بها"
حديث شريف

11 comments:

  1. First of all, allow me to thank you for always posting the content I need in the moment I need. I am perplexed by how you do it but I thank you for it.

    Second, though I understand you're simplifying things, sadness, in my opinion, is not necessarily tied to an external factor that is "greater", in whatever relative term the sad person uses for comparison.

    Sadness can come from within, though it's a bit difficult to distinguish sadness from disappointment when it comes to the self. "I'm disappointed from something I did" is common, but if what you're saying is true - sadness begets disappointment - the sadness then also comes from within.

    Perhaps it is interesting to consider rather that we are "separated" from inside. Perhaps it's a little battle between the Id, Ego and Superego, between those three and the soul, or between those four and something else we don't yet understand in us.

    Sadness and disappointment are two emotions I really want to understand thoroughly. I am pretty "experienced" in both but, though I can understand the external factors, if it's what you say it is, why do I get it from within?

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  2. You're welcome K, and what you've pointed out is true, all emotions come from within; the actual emotional reaction does come from within, happiness and sadness, disappointment and jubilation, victory and defeat.

    The battle between the 3 structural modes of the human psyche on one side, and the soul on the other does occur; it's the battle of the material vs. the spiritual, or the heavenly vs. the mundane.

    The human psyche rationalizes its existence according the rules of self gain or loss, whereas the soul has more of an idealistic nature, it points towards righteousness and blames if it's not exercised, and that's what's called disappointment, in one's self, the subsequent feeling might be either sadness or anger, depending on the state of mind, and in this case, both the action and emotional reaction come from within, a self review of sorts, the sign of a wide awake conscience, the earthly representative of the soul.

    I also speak from experience, as I'm quite experienced in sadness, anger and disappointment, as well as a dozen or more other emotions. But to answer your question of why we get these feelings from within, despite their external "causing factors", I'd say that it is because the idealistic entity within you called your soul, your GPS system embedded on the path between your heart and mind, picks up an error in an action you've made or was caused against you, and the interpretation of this error message comes in either an attempt to pause and ponder through sadness, an emotion that puts all of the other emotions on standby for reflection, or to reject the notion and fight it with anger, a momentary loss of reason, and an attempt to trick the mind into venting through denial.

    All emotions come from within, the more personal the emotion, the deeper is the corner of the soul it comes from, and sadness, the most subtle emotion of all, probably comes from the deepest corner, the place where all emotions are born, that’s why it’s associated with patience, the greatest virtue of all, both in heaven and on earth, in all religions, ideologies and philosophical schools of thought.

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  3. why a lemon tree? ‎

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  4. Because there's a saying that goes: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

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  5. Thank you Ammar for your detailed reply :) I need to take it in and ponder over it

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  6. "When life gives you lemons, find a tequila bottle" :)

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  7. Kaman biseer, but it all depends on whether life also gives you some salt with the lemons, or else you'd also have to find the salt while you're looking for the taquila bottle to complete the set!

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  8. but Sadness is passive.. anger has energy in it and the potential for action to change things.. for example, I'd rather be angry that Palestine is occupied than sad.

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  9. Hi again Muzna, well to an extent that's true, but the passive nature of sadness can lead to a rationalized action, rather than the irrational chaotic nature of anger, which leads to an active yet negative reaction.

    The point here is that this duel of emotional behaviours takes a subtle discourse within: Sadness about Palestine's occupation leads to positive action, like lending a hand where a hand is needed, and making people's lives better in one way or another, in refugee camps for example, which is much more positive and beneficial than being consumed with anger to the point of mental and physical exhaustion, a negative and pointless waste of human potential.

    That's not to say, of course, that Anger at injustice isn't a justified emotion worthy to exercise, as it could be the seed for radical "positive" change.

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  10. I agree.. sadness has its wisdom (so do all emotions I think if you allow yourself to live and grow through them) but some of what you are saying could be that sadness makes you charitable, so you lend a hand to the exiled Palestinians.. while I think anger is what can make you just, so you actually work at the cause of the injustice which is the occupation... both are needed I'd say.

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  11. Well Sadness puts all other emotions on hold, you even seek seclusion when you're sad, which leads to patience, which in turn leads to contemplation, and that leads to compassion, which gives a sense of justice as your sadness matures, this sequence eventually leads to wisdom.

    Read the post titled "The Night Shall Pass", under Top Posts, it deals with the same topic.

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