Hi people:)
I was listening to a smashing song on the radio, and it went something like, "I don't know what to do with myself *amazing instrumental* I don't know what to do with myself *amazing instrumental*" etc... of course, it made me think of my favourite topic - myself.
But before I get to myself, let me share with you what I heard in the distant night air immediately after that. I heard some crazy dog barking. But before I elucidate on said barking, I wanna say that i then turned my gaze on a beautiful house that I wish I owned.
ADHD tendencies aside, I just want to say that it made me think how wonderful this brain of ours is, that it can make connections between seemingly unrelated things. But that is not my point (it is anyone's guess how i made connections between Myself, Barking Dog and Beautiful House and no, it does not entail images of the Stafford Wives and domestic violence...)
My point is that it made me also think more deeply of this person called Me, Myself. I. I read in my awesome book that there are 3 basic senses of self. The first is the Conceptualized Self, which basically pertains to how you would describe yourself if asked to write an essay on yourself. It would go something like "I am kind, I am lovable, I am nice, I am blah". There is a sense of evaluation towards this "I".
The second is the so-called Self as a Process of Ongoing Self-Awareness. This is the self that goes "Now I am feeling this. Now I am remembering that. Now I am seeing this." This sense of self is important for healthy psychological functioning.
The third sense of self is actually quite mind-blowing to think about. It is the Observing Self. It is what I thought of when I heard the barking dog, then turned my gaze on the spotlight of the beautiful house. The Observing Self, I think, can best be illustrated by asking yourself these questions: "What is an early fond/painful memory of yours? When you relive this memory, who is that sense of self looking out from behind your eyes? And then, who was it who ate your breakfast this morning? And who is reading this blog right now?" When I saw that spotlight and heard that barking dog, I thought of that 'Self', so-called looking out from behind my eyes, out into the darkness and towards the light.
The transcendent Observing Self gives us a lot of leeway to overcome our mental pain and anguish when we experience them. You can choose to not "buy into your thought" or put another way, not "look FROM your thoughts" but rather "look AT your thoughts".
When the next painful thought comes into mind, why don't you just say "Oh thanks for the input, mind" and look AT it instead of looking and living FROM it.
I really do want to elaborate and go into detail about the observing self, but my time is limited as I've got sweet potatoes baking in the oven and my landlady does not like us to waste electricity. So get them out I must, but I think, just to succinctly drive it home that MY unwavering sense of observing self is starting to weaken due to the smells wafting from the kitchen, I will totally deviate from this topic and share a YouTube video of my favourite belly dancer with you all. In a way, there IS something of a connection there. Deepak Chopra and Demi Moore narrating to the music - hmm one's super spiritual and other's super Hollywood. There you go - mind and body. Mind Over Body.
Enjoy!!!
I was listening to a smashing song on the radio, and it went something like, "I don't know what to do with myself *amazing instrumental* I don't know what to do with myself *amazing instrumental*" etc... of course, it made me think of my favourite topic - myself.
But before I get to myself, let me share with you what I heard in the distant night air immediately after that. I heard some crazy dog barking. But before I elucidate on said barking, I wanna say that i then turned my gaze on a beautiful house that I wish I owned.
ADHD tendencies aside, I just want to say that it made me think how wonderful this brain of ours is, that it can make connections between seemingly unrelated things. But that is not my point (it is anyone's guess how i made connections between Myself, Barking Dog and Beautiful House and no, it does not entail images of the Stafford Wives and domestic violence...)
My point is that it made me also think more deeply of this person called Me, Myself. I. I read in my awesome book that there are 3 basic senses of self. The first is the Conceptualized Self, which basically pertains to how you would describe yourself if asked to write an essay on yourself. It would go something like "I am kind, I am lovable, I am nice, I am blah". There is a sense of evaluation towards this "I".
The second is the so-called Self as a Process of Ongoing Self-Awareness. This is the self that goes "Now I am feeling this. Now I am remembering that. Now I am seeing this." This sense of self is important for healthy psychological functioning.
The third sense of self is actually quite mind-blowing to think about. It is the Observing Self. It is what I thought of when I heard the barking dog, then turned my gaze on the spotlight of the beautiful house. The Observing Self, I think, can best be illustrated by asking yourself these questions: "What is an early fond/painful memory of yours? When you relive this memory, who is that sense of self looking out from behind your eyes? And then, who was it who ate your breakfast this morning? And who is reading this blog right now?" When I saw that spotlight and heard that barking dog, I thought of that 'Self', so-called looking out from behind my eyes, out into the darkness and towards the light.
The transcendent Observing Self gives us a lot of leeway to overcome our mental pain and anguish when we experience them. You can choose to not "buy into your thought" or put another way, not "look FROM your thoughts" but rather "look AT your thoughts".
When the next painful thought comes into mind, why don't you just say "Oh thanks for the input, mind" and look AT it instead of looking and living FROM it.
I really do want to elaborate and go into detail about the observing self, but my time is limited as I've got sweet potatoes baking in the oven and my landlady does not like us to waste electricity. So get them out I must, but I think, just to succinctly drive it home that MY unwavering sense of observing self is starting to weaken due to the smells wafting from the kitchen, I will totally deviate from this topic and share a YouTube video of my favourite belly dancer with you all. In a way, there IS something of a connection there. Deepak Chopra and Demi Moore narrating to the music - hmm one's super spiritual and other's super Hollywood. There you go - mind and body. Mind Over Body.
Enjoy!!!
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