Emotions represent an initial moments of recognition – of patterns of some sort. The challenge lies in that we sometimes don’t really know what the pattern is. None of us are blank slates, and the question then becomes: should we try to figure out the emotion or the pattern.
Often, we start with the emotion. Losing focus on the pattern, the qualia, we seek answers that return us to the past, which, to me, seems rather unhealthy. For instance, if we experience a deep emotion, we might tie it to a traumatic event, such as being raped as a child. But does this association truly help us? Does it serve any constructive purpose?
Another approach, perhaps healthier, is to develop the pattern first in order to define the emotion. Treat the emotion as a blank slate—an emotion that we can develop, label, improve, and even transform into something positive, even ecstatic. Through this, we gain the ability to think about it, feel it, sense it, or uncover its intuitive value.
This process uses ritual, allowing the emotion to flow harmoniously into the pattern.
In many ways we create “truth” in just this way. We not only recreate memories, but history, and so, indeed, reality. All our traditions start out as rituals with the unknown.