I recently listened to a recording of John Tavener’s remarkable work for solo violin, strings and tam tam, called Mahashakti. This minimalist piece includes a periodic sounding of the tam-tam (a small metallic instrument that is struck much like a gong). I found my emotions of joy mixed with sorrow coming to the surface whenever this soft beat occurred in Taverner’s work. My emotions were sustained because I was anticipating the gently reverberating sound of the tam-tam.
We find a similar anchoring in our non-musical life. A compliment offered by a customer reminds us of the reason we are performing a particular task. John’s large picture of the sailboat that is hung on the wall behind his administrative desk might also serve as an emotional anchor. The picture might remind John of what he is missing in his life and why he needs to periodically review his priorities and baseline.
The clear reminder serves as an anchor for our emotions. It reaffirms our baseline. For Beethoven, it was the anchor of Joy (as represented in Schiller’s poem) that kept him moving forward in creating the Ninth Symphony (Sinclair, 2012). For John, it could be his return to “doing law” one day a week. This weekly anchor could remind him of why he entered this field in the first place and why his work as an administrator is critical to the continuation of legal practices in his firm. Emotional anchors clarify and reaffirm our purposes and meaning in life.
The identification of emotional anchors can be of great benefit when we serve as a coach. Offering an appreciative perspective, we can help our client identify those moments and events that elicit deep emotions in them. These moments and events can help our client identify not just their goals and aspirations, but also the baseline(s) that they use when anticipating something in their life. While a psychosocial template can be engaged to assess threat, it can also be used to assess potential pleasure and gratification. Working with a client, we can help them appreciate the emotional anchors in their life and the way(s) in which these anchors can be introduced into their psychosocial template.
For instance, Tavener’s Mahashakti (like many of his pieces) is often best heard while in a contemplative state. We can reflect on the complex emotions that the tam-tam sound elicits, and (perhaps with the assistance of a coach) consider how these interwoven emotions appear in our daily life or, especially, in anticipation of an upcoming important event. For me, the intermixing of joy and sorrow relates to my upcoming visit with my brother, who is suffering from dementia. I “know” in my heart (psychosocial template) that my time spent with him will be filled with joy (recalling our many years together), mixed with sorrow (knowing that he can’t recall these years). John Taverner’s Mahashakti can help me prepare for this upcoming visit.
Polystasis and Depth Psychology
Clearly, as illustrated in my own experiences of Taverner’s Makashaki and Beethoven’s engagement of joy in his composition of the Ninth Symphony, our Anticipations are often rooted in our emotions. The question to be posed is: How deep is this rooting, and how pervasive is the influence of emotions on our anticipations? It is tempting to turn first to the “king of emotions”—this being Sigmund Freud. While it is tempting to turn to his concern (even obsession) with the sexual urge as the predominant emotion, I prefer to consider one of Freud’s later conceptions (Freud, 1990/1936). It concerns the role of anxiety as an emotion that signals the potential emergence of unconscious content that will be threatening to us if allowed to enter consciousness.
Download Article
