The Intelligence of Emotional Arcs

Joy does not replace grief, it follows it. Calm does not override anger, it comes after anger has been heard. Anxiety settles only when the body trusts it will not be forced into silence again. You are not meant to leap to a higher emotional register. You are meant to let the lower ones complete their arc. That arc is intelligence moving through tissue. You are not meant to be serene while something is still dying. You are meant to be present. Calm will return, not because you forced it, but because there will be less to carry. And joy will feel different when it comes back, quieter, steadier, less excitable, more real.