Emotional Temperance Rather Than Emotional Regulation

Temperance – which includes the capacity to abide with intensity without either grabbing it or blocking it – isn't all about management. It might partly be about porosity. Can you let the feeling build without defending? Can you participate in the crescendo without trying to hold onto it? Can you allow it to fade without chasing it? This isn't passivity. It's active participation without the controlling grip. It's what musicians do: they not so much control the music; they participate in it. The note builds, peaks, releases. They're part of that temporal structure. Emotional temperance works the same way. You're not managing feelings from outside. You're resonating with them, letting the pattern complete its cycle.