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Emotions and Psi
by GoldBear

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I was asked by someone if Psi could be used to "kill" emotions. This question was simple, but the meaning it implied frightened me a great deal. I tell you now, that to "kill" an emotion would lead one on a path to insanity. There is no method to kill emotions in psi practices, mostly due to the large amount of responsibility that would be involved, and broken. Let me attempt an explanation in... less than kosher terms. :)

Imagine, if you would, that you had the intense need to urinate. Now, since you are far from a restroom, you decide that now is not the best time to quench this need. After all, soiling yourself leaves your dating potential diminished, and relieving yourself in public could get you a stay in an uncomfortable bed with a guy named "Bruno." So, we must refrain from expressing this desire/need at the present. We must find an acceptable "outlet" for it (hopefully a toilet). Let us say that a restroom is nowhere nearby, and your efforts are in vain to find this outlet. What options remain to us? Soiling ourselves, or urinating in public? Both leaves us out of balance. We risk a great deal using either option. How can we express this need?

You see, this basic biological need does represent our emotions. Our emotions are a biological function that psychologists call "drive." It is an attempt for the body/mind to re-establish equilibrium. Equilibrium, as you know, is a state of body balance, where all functions are operating at the least strain, and require the least amount of energy to operate. We are in energy-conservation mode in this state, and we do not spend energy needlessly. Is this the state we should strive to remain in always? Of course, no. We must leave equilibrium to accomplish tasks and goals, beyond the basic needs of the body. However, we cannot escape our basic needs. If they are satisfied, we can move on to more "advanced needs," as I discussed in my article about Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs."

What then, for the moments when our needs must be suppressed? Our needs are not being met at the most basic level, and we are prevented from accomplishing anything beyond our basic level needs. The drive will overcome our reason, and demand that we resolve this "mini-crisis" immediately. Unfortunately, societal rules prevent us from fulfilling our needs at the exact moment they arise. We would be angry at a co-worker who left an important meeting to grab a burger, but we would most likely not blink at a person doing the same activity to urinate. Such are the interesting contradictions we must handle on a daily basis. What is important in dealing with biological needs is the same as with dealing with emotions: They must be dealt with in a reasonable time frame from their originating drive, but they can be suppressed for a time, until a more appropriate "outlet" can be found. Needless to say, the longer we ignore or suppress these needs, the stronger the drive will become. If we do not meet the need, the body will eventually over-ride our will and ENSURE that we meet the need, no matter the cost, or die trying. Hunger is an emotional state, just like love. We must feed, or we will starve. If we do not fill the need, we become desperate, and we will find anything to eat or love. The quality of what we find in this state is what is available, even if it is not the best choice, or even "digestable" Surely we've all had a few dates or even significant others that remind us of when we were "starving."

To deny it further than this point, is to invoke death, or insanity. The true irony, is that when our drive is greatest, our ability to fulfill the drive becomes impaired, as our reason is consumed by the drive. So, in my best advice, eat, drink, and be merry, or you'll go crazy. By the way, if any of you refer to this as the "pee-pee parable," I'll have the drive to strangle you. Best of the energies.

By the way, if you are in hot weather, and sweat a great deal, your body will reabsorb the water in your urine, decreasing the need to pee. *wink*

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