the opposite of anger

I’m just about done reading Robert Thurman’s book Anger. It’s got a bright red cover and looks like it might be the devil’s hand book. But in fact of course, it’s just the opposite.
I picked it up at Menla months ago, while on a retreat with Dr. Thurman and Sharon Salzberg, and I’ve been dipping in and out of it ever since.
Anger is such a big ball of wax. Therapists tell us we’ve got to express it or it comes out all twisted. Buddhist teachings inspire us to rise above it. And here we are in the middle of modern life with anger-provoking things bombarding us from every direction.
(Like the jackhammer that was blasting while I was trying to watch the very sweet film, Waitress this afternoon.)
The antithesis of anger is patience, and as Sharon suggested on the retreat, interest. Which seems puzzling at first. But the whole idea of engaging with the object of our anger as a witness vs. a participant creates a distance that allows us to observe, just observe.
I ran across the following quote this week from Dr. Wayne Dyer, which I find so compelling because it addresses depression, traditionally considered to be anger turned inwards.
"The opposite of depression is expression. Expression. Express yourself. When you're depressed you're not expressing yourself. You're expressing a part of you that doesn't even really want to exist." (The Power of Intention, June 18, 2007)
I’m guessing that expression is a pretty powerful antidote to anger too. Not in the sense of a screaming jag about that all that angers us. But as a preemptive creative strike against potential anger traps. In another boring meeting the other day, and noticing resentment start to make me all fidgety and frustrated, I started drawing things I might make if I were in my studio and had all sorts of materials on hand. I was just dreaming on paper to myself, still able to follow the conversations with enough attention to chime in as needed.
My meeting notebook is starting to look a lot more interesting.