Respond to Michael’s essay.
I read it and thought “what, that’s nonsense”. And it is. But it’s also phenomenally powerful nonsense; a very useful false belief.
Which is why I can call this a yes-and. He’s entirely right, for many/most people today. YES, and that gets you to the point you’re not suppressing your emotions or running from their experiences (flight response).
Once you are there, fully alive, you CAN tune your experience of life over the short and long term. Focus on joy, attend to it, and you bring more of it.