"by not allowing myself to become involved emotionally" (ODAT)
That's my response to whatever appears to be going on in my life.
The mistake is thinking that the unhappiness is coming from without or that the joy is coming from without.
It's coming from within.
Detachment does not mean numbing but means recognising the true source: I'm not feeling anything because of the situation; I'm projecting it onto the situation.
The drama is always really a spiritual drama.
In one sense there is nothing really going on out there.
When I realise that the battle is the choice between the lower voice, the other side, the negativity, the ego, the devil, the unholy trinity of 'sin', guilt, and fear, on one hand, and the sunlight of God, on the other hand, then I can respond neutrally to the world, because it's simply the venue, the room I'm in.