E The Holistic View 133
Similar to the cat, the growling and hissing will result in action only
in dire straits.
Joy
Energy high, direction sharp, focus external.
So far, joy looks identical to anger. Because of their identical
profiles, they are both easy to identify. The physiological difference
is what part of brain is engaged, and the emotional difference can
be described in terms of magnetism: anger repels and joy attracts.
I describe joy as overwhelming happiness. One would only have
to meet me to wonder why I would understand this concept. Joy is
not a typical soldier trait. My Army buddies and I once played a
horrible practical joke on a fellow soldier in my days at Arlington
because we wanted to provoke this “unsoldierly” emotion. We cop-
ied this guy’s numbers from a lottery ticket he left on a desk. Shortly
after that, he came to ask if anyone knew the winning numbers.
We sent him to the person he thought was the most credible guy in
the unit, and this trusted source read off the numbers one by one.
As the numbers matched he became progressively more excited.
When he heard the last number, this balding, thick-waisted old sol-
dier sprang into the air and kicked his feet like a boy. This reckless
abandon of his personal image came crashing down when he looked
into the next room where we were all in our own perverted
demonstrations of joy.
Depending on culture, people display high energy differently.
For instance, an acceptable level of energy associated with joy in a
young woman will elicit stares when used by a middle-aged man.