What you are saying here resonates with my own experience. I was taught by spiritual teachers that self-centred emotion is "a sin", that should be "renounced". In practice this seemed to mean repression, and increasing frustration and coldness within the self. Subsequent life experiences have taught me the truth of what you are saying, that all our emotions and feelings must be expressed or otherwise processed, and not simply ignored or locked away in the psyche.

Repression is like a pressure cooker - a little pressure is good and helps the food cook faster, but too much pressure, with no release, will just result, sooner or later, in an eruption, and the food being sprayed all over the ceiling!

When we bury our negative emotions under a false layer of pleasantry, these emotions do not go away, but build up within our psyche. Over time we become increasingly disconnected from our true inner selves: separated by ever-growing layers of repressed negative energy. We become increasingly frustrated and unable to experience positive emotion or feelings.

As you say: "there is nothing more painful then watching the wrythings of someone who is not being true to themselves, for they are not being true to you either".

And: "explore holding the energy before immediately unleashing it on the world. Contain it, but look for positive channels of expression."

In doing this, we not only dissipate the negative energy, but also learn about the cause of it, so we can work on eliminating that cause (which will always be rooted in selfish ego).

Great work Chris (as per usual) :)

Namaste