Emotions have gotten a bad rap. Not the shallow, distracting , ephemeral flutter often associated with them, emotions can go very deep and are intimately intertwined with awareness. But only if I allow that to happen.
It has taken me all these years to realize the importance and the possible depth of emotional engagement. After all the time I spent essentially living in my head, I learned that the mind can connect in a richer, more insightful and more joyful way if the heart is involved.
This is a lesson I have learned by the absence of emotional engagement as forcefully as its captivating presence.
Allowing emotions to be engaged without constriction is a joy of being alive. It is what happens when the mind totally relaxes into its natural state. Nothing needs be expressed when emotions are allowed to plunge into the seemingly bottomless depths of mind. For me, it has been all about learning to let go of mind constraints in a way that allows my focus to plunge while staying in touch, staying intimately aware.
Without the focus, the intense awareness, emotion can be but a burst of unaware, unrealized energy.
Perhaps this is something everyone learns and does naturally. For me, it has required practice and learning. I have needed to become adept at opening the door so that I can see, be aware and feel.
Every morning, I practice at feeling deeply. It is the rapture of a relaxed but focused, attentive mind. Its probes the depth of joy, of bliss. It is the exuberance of feeling what it is to be fully alive.
I have not learned by thinking about it. I learned by doing it.