'JOURNEY'

NOOSA BOTANIC GARDENS QLD

Commissioned by the Noosa Stone Sculpture Bequest
● Material: Carrara Marble

 

As human beings, we are given a unique opportunity to experience life with all its ups and downs, joys and sorrows.  It is a privilege that must not be taken for granted.

Emotions operate on many levels, bridging thought, feeling, and action. They are complex; often difficult to describe and not easy to simplify. The two basic emotions we all experience are love and fear.  All other emotions are variations of these. Anxiety, anger, control, sadness, depression, inadequacy, confusion, hurt, lonely, guilt, shame, are fear-based emotions.  Emotions such as joy, happiness, caring, trust, compassion, truth, contentment, satisfaction, are love-based emotions. Understanding the power of emotions in oneself or in others requires experience which can only be gained through the passage of time.

Modern society views ‘being out of control’ (emotionally) as a sign of weakness. Many people feel uncomfortable with those who express strong emotions, meaning that we must learn to control our emotions in order to be perceived as politically correct. However one emotional state invariably feeds or gives rise to another—sometimes humans are caught in a closed loop of emotions that only maturity and the passage of time can resolve. Depression and elation may be likened to a roller coaster ride, whilst fear, envy, grief, paranoia and many darker emotional states are labyrinthine in their mainly internalised states.Eastern philosophy encourages emotional detachment. It is considered impossible to untangle the complexities of emotions, and even if one succeeds for a brief time, new emotions will spring or a deeper layer of the old issues will surface.

Buddha taught that it is not important to find out what set your house on fire, only to get out of the burning house as fast as possible. Learning to centre oneself, viewing emotions as productive and dealing with negative emotions as objectively as possible is one of the ways to gain spiritual enlightenment.