Sorry for the long delay--it's been kind of a crazy week. I'm actually sitting here redoing my hair since it's looking a little minty green. It's supposed to be purple... it turns out blue. Don't ask. So I'm sitting here, a bit bored, I haven't blogged in about a week, and it's a good way to procrastinate on my homework. OH! I'm going to a conference from Friday to Sunday and I am super excited about it! So yep, that's what is new with me.
Hmm, so let me talk about thought and the mind for a bit. Our minds are incredibly powerful and incredibly mysterious. I mean, why else would a branch of psychology (cognitive) be dedicated to the mind and how it works? We can slip into altered states of consciousness through things like meditation or hypnosis, which are really solely due to the mind. Our minds can also cause physiological symptoms, especially those associated with pain or anxiety. There's a whole slew of psychosomatic disorders out there, and I don't know about you, but stress and worry wreak havoc on my body. I especially carry stress in my shoulders and as someone put it quite eloquently to me, "You have knots on your knots!" So yeah, it's a little crazy to think something so intangible can manifest thought and worry into physiological symptoms.
What I think is a little bit cooler though, is the concept of attention. If we don't pay attention to something, especially something visual, it's as if it doesn't exist! I find it both interesting and a bit freaky to think about the extent of what we miss on a daily basis, simply because we're not paying attention. The other night, I was walking back to my dorm sometime around midnight. The temperature had just dipped below freezing and the very thin layer of moisture left on the street and sidewalk was beginning to freeze. I wasn't really paying attention, but when I looked down everything seemed to sparkle. It was as if I was walking on diamonds. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen in quite a while, though I must admit it was rivaled by the hoar frost we've had on the trees for the last two days. Stunning. Here's a photo my friend took of that by the way. I feel so lucky to be living in such a beautiful place.
I think I was lost in thought before I noticed the sidewalks and roads. I love just sitting around and thinking. It's why I kind of like blogging--it forces me to organize and summarize my thoughts. I think a lot of people enjoy thinking, and especially having the time to think, but what gives thought it's value? It is valuable because we enjoy it? or do we enjoy it because it's valuable? Also, does the value of thinking come from the sheer fact that we do it and enjoy it, or from our explicit application into our daily lives? I'll leave that last one up to you. Whatever answer you come up with, I'm sure it will be epic.
So, go enjoy a few minutes of that epic thinking, but don't forget to look down--you never know when you'll find a diamond.
Please be well and be excellent! Have a good week!
-Megan
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