Joy

From Session 152 in Volume 4 of Seth's Early Sessions:


"Joy and the spontaneous expression of it will always bring increased strength and resiliency to the personality. It also brings deep and abiding satisfaction to the subconscious, which is much more joyful than it is given credit for. The subconscious, for example, the personal subconscious, takes great pleasure in its manipulation of the physical fibres in locomotion. The expression of joy also makes the ego more resilient, less fearful, less resentful of diverse conditions when they occur. The emotion itself is an automatic signal that unites the conscious and conscious in shared experience.

"It is, as a rule, lack of knowledge on the part of the ego as to the nature of reality, and its part in it, and the resulting fear, that often prevents a personality from accepting spontaneous expression of emotions in general. The capacity to feel is important. When one fears to experience seemingly unpleasant emotions, the personality also tends to set up an emotional pattern of rejection that seriously cuts down, also, not only on the expression but the very perception of joy.

"This does not mean that the personality must be completely swept away by an emotion, though this is what such an ego fears. Emotion replenishes even the ego. Emotions demand resiliency, and resiliency is both the result of spontaneity, inner assurance, and discipline. All this is action, for the personality itself is composed of action, and is constantly changing. This is action, therefore, delighting in the expression and form of itself.

... "The desire to set yourself apart from emotion, and coolly appraise it, is merely an indication of the ego's characteristic nature. It tries to separate itself from action, to view it objectively, and to see itself as something apart from action.

"Since it is itself action, such an attempt is basically doomed to failure. Yet the very attempt causes the formation of the ego. Once this apparent separate ego is formed, and once a fair amount of stability is maintained, and a new identity arrived at, the initial desire and energy will maintain the ego in its position during its existence in any field. Since this existence of separate identity is assured, attempts should then be made so that the ego can better participate in its realization of action, and the emotional life is very important in this respect.

"In any fairly normal personality the intellect will indeed stand guard. There is no need to fear identity's complete immersion into emotional sensation. Such emotional experience actually strengthens not only the ego, but it opens communications between the ego and the subconscious, and allows for a much greater flow of energy from the primary source of action.

"This energy, incidentally, can be most effectively used for creative work. I could have given you much of this material earlier, but I wanted you to understand the basic reasoning behind the material, and for this a knowledge of the nature of action was necessary."