Read time 3 minutes. Emotional state reflects ego dynamics. Shifting your seat of awareness can transform emotional experience. This stand alone article is part of our letting go series.
We continue our investigation into letting go by peeling back another layer of the emotional onion—this time, mood.
For our purposes, mood refers to a general emotional state—a kind of fog or filter—less defined than specific emotions like joy or rage. Mood is more subtle, more subconscious. It moves in shadows, beneath the surface.
Previously, we introduced the idea of an undetectable distress. Now, that distress begins to take shape, showing up as an internal atmosphere—an ambient state that reflects a deeper split. Specifically, the split between the conscious and subconscious minds.
Emotional state and the ego’s secret trial
At the center of the self lies a void—a kind of unresolved question. Instead of the solid ground we expect to find, there’s open sky. And in that sky, a quiet trial is always underway.
The ego is on the stand. And we are the jury.
Is this self who we really are? Or isn’t it?
Our mood is tied to how well the ego thinks it’s performing in this trial. If the ego feels seen, justified, legitimate—we trend toward a good mood. If not, we drift toward unease.
To win its case, the ego does what it always does: it tries to condition its world. It claims credit for good outcomes. It tries to fix bad ones. Then it attempts to fill the void it cannot name. It behaves like a deity assigned a job it was never qualified to do. That’s the birth of the ego’s tendencies: the need to control, to be right, to never concede.
How mood creates its own weather
This street runs both ways. When life goes sideways, the ego loses its footing and our mood slips toward “bad.” But when our mood is already off, it distorts how we interpret life. The lens darkens. And what could have been seen as neutral becomes a perceived failure.
That’s how feedback loops form.
But here’s the shift: when our seat of awareness is the ego, the emotional state sneaks up behind us. When our seat of awareness is Tao, the emotional state opens in front of us. And that changes everything.
What we’ve learned
- Mood arises from the subconscious and is more primitive than emotion.
- Our ego constantly seeks legitimacy—and our mood reflects how that trial is going.
- Feedback loops between life and mood can trap us in illusion.
- Shifting the seat of awareness reframes our relationship with the emotional state.
Mood is not a problem to solve. It’s a fog to observe. And awareness—honest, spacious awareness—is the beginning of seeing clearly.
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Emotional intelligence is an interesting and multilayered topic. If you would like to learn more about what modern psychology has to say about it Wikipedia is a great place to start.
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