tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post5731372044977906604..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: Tales of a transitory psychopath 2Denis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-33521932289724048292013-02-15T09:38:12.301+11:002013-02-15T09:38:12.301+11:00There is clearly some mysterious attraction to nut...There is clearly some mysterious attraction to nuts when humans try to describe their own minds (and of course, as I remember every time I put on my bicycle helmet - the brand is something like 'Nutcase' - that also extends to the brain's container)zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-15425881686952387832013-02-11T16:17:49.159+11:002013-02-11T16:17:49.159+11:00Plain old meditation's looking good. :) Thus ...Plain old meditation's looking good. :) Thus my limited knowledge of Jung is exposed. He makes good sense in aspects of Indian philosophy but I won't go into it here.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-12622579503378988452013-02-11T16:13:14.764+11:002013-02-11T16:13:14.764+11:00Don't try coconut.Don't try coconut.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-73445649248880595492013-02-10T10:53:34.871+11:002013-02-10T10:53:34.871+11:00I'd rather have an almond brain than a peanut ...I'd rather have an almond brain than a peanut brain. I'll stick with the almonds.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-58320967944593241612013-02-10T10:49:35.894+11:002013-02-10T10:49:35.894+11:00Active Imagination and Lucid Dreaming are very dif...Active Imagination and Lucid Dreaming are very different. In Lucid Dreaming you are awake in your dreams. You know you are dreaming and therefore you can act with conscious volition in your dreams. You can talk to dream characters, change the nature of the dream, fly, whatever you want. <br /><br />I haven't had a significant lucid dream for years, but while I was doing lucid dream training about 15 years ago, I got quite good at it. Problem was the excercises during the day were taking up too much of my time, so I gave it away.<br /><br />Active Imagination is a meditation technique developed by Carl Jung. You are fully awake while practising. It allows access to the subconscious processes of your mind that give rise to dreams and fantasies.<br /><br />For accessing and further understanding dream material, you sit quietly, keeping an aspect of the dream in mind. You then follow that aspect back into the dream, as far as you can remember, allowing you to ask questions of dream characters, witness what else might arise out of the dream material, and basically interact with the dream, allowing further meaning and memory to arise.<br /><br />You can do the same with imaginative material, following images or feelings back to their subconsious source. Or, you can just sit quietly and allow whatever arises to arise. When an image comes up, you can focus on that image and allow it to "speak" to you.<br /><br />Basically, in AI you suspend your conscious, literal, logical, ego-focused mind and allow the unconscious to speak to you in the language it knows best -- images, intuitions, feelings, symbols.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-34700279154613361212013-02-09T22:01:20.099+11:002013-02-09T22:01:20.099+11:00Wow! Is Active Imagination the same as Lucid Dream...Wow! Is Active Imagination the same as Lucid Dreaming? I seem lately to remember just enough about my dream to know I'd like to recall it.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-44641335022903627052013-02-09T21:45:53.178+11:002013-02-09T21:45:53.178+11:00Pretty sure it's not too uncommon. I have the ...Pretty sure it's not too uncommon. I have the strongest feeling that women have the greater capacity to switch it on and off as required. What do you think?Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-6739470556937341542013-02-09T21:42:46.508+11:002013-02-09T21:42:46.508+11:00In the article, the amygdala were described as pea...In the article, the amygdala were described as peanut shaped. Does this make you feel any better? It may just be a case of mixed nuts. Or packet.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-21020950959992646532013-02-09T21:20:36.258+11:002013-02-09T21:20:36.258+11:00I picked up ages ago from somewhere the idea that ...I picked up ages ago from somewhere the idea that amygdala are almond shaped. I've no idea why I'm slightly disappointed to discover (judging by your diagram) that they are not. I wonder if it is my non-almond shaped amygdala that are responsible for my disappointment at their non-almond shapezmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11827123275812550047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-37006713243063706632013-02-08T11:27:01.795+11:002013-02-08T11:27:01.795+11:00It seems my inner psychopath leapt to life when Ca...It seems my inner psychopath leapt to life when Carl had his heart attack. I was ruthlessly methodical, getting everything done, emotions under control. And then I dreamt that myself and a male companion locked a 5 year old girl in a room behind a large glass window. The child cried deeply and with abandon as we walked up the street, leaving her behind the glass, alone.<br /><br />That dream disturbed me, so later, I practised an Active Imagination exercise in which I imagined myself back in the dream. I went into the room where the child was. She was still crying. She looked at me and threw an enormous tantrum on the floor. I said, "Who do you think you are, Linda Blair?" She calmed down. I took her hand and we walked out of the room and up the same street I had previously walked.<br /><br />I see now that my silenced amigdala, represented by the male figure (repressed emotions, heightened logic) imprisoned my inner child. A necessary act at the time, but not a satisfactory long term solution to difficult problems. After the Active Imagination exercise I dreamt that a dry dam with a cracked bottom suddenly errupted in clear, clean, sweet fresh water and overflowed its banks.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-62514051819734256942013-02-08T07:39:38.868+11:002013-02-08T07:39:38.868+11:00Whew!! Glad to know that I am not a psychopath of ...Whew!! Glad to know that I am not a psychopath of the dangerous kind. I guess that crying at La Traviata and suffering nervous tension when the podiatrist cuts my toenails (I can't reach them!) are saving graces.<br /><br />This has been an interesting phenomenon to explore. In some ways a regret, in other ways a relief, to know that I am not alone.<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />BobBob Lakenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-60094389121745993862013-02-07T20:32:46.953+11:002013-02-07T20:32:46.953+11:00You are FABULOUS! That was my thought when reading...You are FABULOUS! That was my thought when reading this while remembering what you are currently going through. <br /><br />Psychopath, hmm. I am clearly not one, since I react with extreme emotion to every, everyday situation, much to my continual exhaustion.But once I was in a canoe on a river with a child in my charge, and we were swept away. Even at the time I was pleased with my calm, logical reactions. I 'saved' us.<br /><br />So interesting. Isn't the human mechanism extraordinary. Yes, we become calm when in extremis. That is survival, when there is no room for hysterics. At least, I hope so.Perhaps this is the 'higher self' taking charge, rather than the ego driven drama king :) of the 'small self'.<br /><br />Yes, I'll go with that hopeful thought. Though a psychologist would argue it away ,probably.<br /><br />Julie M xx<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com