Ego isn't 100% negative, though. Nor are emotions. Yes, both can cause pain, lead a person astray, and blind them to reality. Both, however, are core parts of conscious human life and I don't really know how to not view them as meaningful (possibly the most meaningful) parts of life experience. The stuff that makes it worth it.

I think that's the whole reason I find myself pushing back so hard against any kind of neo-Stoic philosophy pushed as self-improvement. That kind of emotional moderation, as a lifestyle rather than a useful mental tool for trying circumstances, or even just to keep oneself in check. I can't see how it isn't empty, sterile, ambitionless, and just painfully detached.