Catharsis

ca·thar·sis [kuh-thahr-sis] the purging of the emotions or relieving of emotional tensions, esp. through certain kinds of art, as tragedy or music.

Recently, I've been thinking about the idea of catharsis, and ultimately, good vs evil. Catharsis seems to represent good... or at least pleasure, a good feeling and how strong that can be. What peaks my interest is the power of one side... as in light vs dark or good vs evil. Maybe I'm biased because I believe in goodness, but then... if I didn't believe in goodness then what's the alternative? Evil? I can see how people can view the world negatively but that would seem to be quite a destructive life if you didn't believe in goodness. I mean, imagine that for a second... to view the world without goodness existing, that there is no such thing as goodness and that any evidence is just fake. Because, it seems to me if you can believe that there is any good in this world, even just an ounce, then there is still hope for goodness. And goodness, whatever degree of it, is imperishable, right? And don't we call bad because it's bad? but I digress.

Anyways, I like this theme of catharsis because it's good and it reinforces growth, happiness, love, all the feel good stuff... humans are greatly motivated by instant gratification and tangible evidence of goodness; we inevitably gravitate towards self satisfaction. I dunno it just seems like a really attractive idea to me. So I pulled a few things from wikipedia about catharsis to generate some thought. It works for me maybe it'll provoke something in you; I love hearing other people's opinions because it helps me form better ones.

From Wikipedia: 

"...an extreme change in emotion"

"It has been described as a "purification" or a "purging" of such emotions"

"...such terms as restoration, renewal, and revitalization"

"...a sensation"

"conclusion of a tragedy; namely, the release of pent-up emotion or energy."

"...that purification and cleansing are not proper translations for catharsis; that it should rather be rendered as purgation.  'It is the human soul that is purged of its excessive passions.' -Aristotle"

"Lessing sidesteps the medical aspect of the issue and translates catharsis as a purification, an experience that brings pity and fear into their proper balance: 'In real life,' he explained, 'men are sometimes too much addicted to pity or fear, sometimes too little; tragedy brings them back to a virtuous and happy mean.'  Tragedy is then a corrective; through watching tragedy, the audience learns how to feel these emotions at proper levels.  Some modern interpreters of the work infer that catharsis is pleasurable, because audience members experience ekstasis (Greek: ἔκστασις – ecstasy) (literally: astonishment, meaning: trance) or, in other words, 'relief,' ensuing from an awareness that, compared with what they have just seen portrayed, their own life is less tragic."

 

It's interesting that we watch movies and media and just experience them but do we realize why we watch them? or what's subconsciously happening? According to Plato (via wikipedia), Poetry was looked at as a means "to be hysterical and uncontrolled." Aristotle claimed otherwise, saying poetry provides "a healthy outlet" for people's feeling and to "be less controlled by emotion." It's interesting because when I watch movies I generally like them because I can relate at least one aspect of the film to my life... and I feel a sense of recognition in that, which, I guess you could say, reinforces or acts as an affirmation to my experience. A lot of people watch movies and tv as a form of entertainment; now I'm generalizing here, but I don't think most of us realize what is occurring when we watch film/tv/media... in it's simplest form, we participate as an audience member. And there's a lot that one can experience as an audience member psychologically and emotionally that we don't initially consider. Sometimes, we don't even realize it's happening to us and we'll release emotionally on someone else or in some other way. Of course these effects occur depending on the dramaturgical quality and as well as one's personal triggers. What we commonly experience is catharsis; we witness a tragedy and sympathize as well as adopt the displayed emotions. It's kind of like vicarious trauma in that we experience the displayed emotions because they effect us so deeply, again depending on quality and personal factors. What's fascinating is the pleasure we receive from this... I don't think it's perverse, it's more like someone affirming how we are feeling. There is also pleasure found when our feelings are acknowledged... so why do we cry in movies, books, tv, even to music? I think it must be because our feelings are acknowledged, our emotions are recognized, the hurt and pain we've been disguising is now understood, we can let go because we are understood, there's no need to hide... and there is no shame in this release because it's freeing. I think, we humans hide way too much. That's quite a vast statement, but it's interesting that we hide everything... we hide our shame. We don't want to be compared, judged, critiqued... we want our blemishes hidden. And generally, we don't talk about it... I mean that does make sense in that if you have learned to hide a great deal in life that you will be less likely to talk about it. But to actually give in and give up and let go... that is a feeling like no other.

It's peculiar to think about catharsis because it's a result of a struggle between good and evil. To hold back would be to remain with the struggle and the deteriorative consequences that follow. And catharsis only occurs if the outcome is positive. However, the only negative dysfunction I could see occurring is the abuse of the practice... for example, through releasing one feels good and this process might encourage one to purposely force a re-occurrence to experience the pleasure of Catharsis. However, I guess if that were the case then it wouldn't be an authentic catharsis? Or maybe not a full catharsis, particularly if the pent-up emotions are hidden behind the so-called "catharsis." I think if we don't fully release and reveal then it won't work and it won't be worth it. This is one thing that I usually think to myself... If in any instances where I find myself considering a poor choice (usually in attempts to find some sort of short cut) almost always do I consider the pros and cons. Now I know that sounds pompous and please do not translate this as an ostentatious remark... If you know me personally, I tend to take my time thinking far too much about matters that require little thought... but when an opportunity arises to make a good or bad decision I usually think to myself how it will benefit me in the short and long term. A lot of times it's a matter of personal gratification and satisfaction. Whether right or wrong it's what makes sense to me. So on a scale of good and bad, if a decisions of withholding or hiding shame causes more grief down the road then it is a bad decision and a poor choice. What motivates me, however, is not necessarily the selfish desires but goodness and the mystique of goodness. It's makes me curious to explore the idea of one side conquering the other, good vs evil... why? It's a positive curiosity I think because it all kinda feels right. Like the idea of light versus darkness, the light will always win because it can change darkness and darkness cannot change light. I've thought about it and it would have to be an object to block light, so that wouldn't be darkness... like darkness seems to be birthed from light, does that make sense? I mean for one, there's no darkness without light, but also, darkness is the absence of light right? Light is a source; darkness is not. Bear with me right now because I'm processing my thoughts as I'm writing. Ok, so imagine an empty room, and in one of the corners is a light and this light hits every bit of surface in the room... there is no darkness... the only way to obtain any shade is to add an object to the room. This sounds like creation doesn't it? Say for example, we add a couple of human beings and a tree;) But seriously that makes sense doesn't it? It's almost like how they say "the flesh causes darkness" or "we need to kill our flesh"... Just thinking out loud here, so let's talk creation: God is the source, the light, and when the earth and humanity are created there must be shadows created as well. I mean if you can think of God being a source like light, you can see that what humans are created with are spirits or inner lights... so maybe when we read about "dying to self" or "killing the flesh" and "not being of the world" or even "don't hide your light under a bushel," it refers to not hiding behind flesh or the world but living free. But this only exists because we need to experience to understand so catharsis is our way of understanding and our method of emotional, spiritual and personal freedom. In a way or in my little room scenario it seems to work... I mean, yes it's a very simple idea but it seems to fit. It's possible that I'm not seeing every angle here so let me know if you see a different angle. I'd rather hear what other people think than just state opinions. Even though I just stated a whole bunch;)