Mi'sen

I have had massive payoff from meditating on difficult emotions -as they arise-, but I seldom manage to invoce them mid-sitting.

Just making the space every damn day matters. I'm starting to think I need to fine tune the description of that practice though.

You mean in the sense of: opening up to negative emotions, but passing over it in silence if nothing comes up?

But people seem to often have nothing going on. How did they get so happy? Maybe they had nice lives!

It's not happiness; it's not-unhappiness. Low neuroticism. Personality + relative lack of childhood trauma and parental stress.

Plenty of very happy people who are yet also basket cases. Different modalities.

Basket case in which sense of the phrase? I’m sure you’re probably right on this - just in terms I haven’t considered before. I think often that happiness isn’t the right goal for meditators, one can be happy and sad at the same time and still feel very well & wholehearted.

I think that lines up quite well with your use of ‘low neuroticism’ - but I’m not so sure. Need to consider this more I guess.