"The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
~ George Bernard Shaw
This concept is something I struggled with for a long time, and it eventually drew me into intensive journaling. Let me explain,
I would consider what to do, even something immediate and simple. I would make a decision to do it. And yet sometimes the task would not get done. I would end up doing other things that I had decided to do, or I would put the task off, etc. It finally occurred to me that some part of my being was making the decision to do a task, but the part of my being capable of implementing the task was not getting the message to act.
Say I was hungry. In the office of my mind, I called a meeting. "Craving to Eat" showed up, "Preserving One's Health" attended, and I was there, and we made a decision to eat. Only "Cook" didn't show up. So Cook never got the message, and the meal didn't get made.
I found that by journaling I could marshal all aspects of my being, give each part of me a voice at the table, and come to a consensus what was to be done and "who" was to do it. I went from imagining I was in charge to being in charge.
Arthur writes:
Have you ever heard the saying that you cannot expect anyone to take better care of you than you do for yourself?
Have you ever heard the saying that you cannot expect anyone to take better care of you than you do for yourself?
To put this another way, if a person doesn't have pity on themselves, who will have pity on them?
It's possible to take altruism too far, and for a person to neglect themselves. It's important for a person to put their life first, before others. Journaling focuses a person on the here and the now and the "me". From that position of strength, they can act with kindness to others.
May I share a pet peeve? I have met people that have this or that idea of what they want to do. They share the idea with me, and I am honored that they do so, implicitly soliciting my input. Yet in some cases, it becomes apparent that the person talking to me doesn't grasp that they must do "A" before they do "B", "C", and "D". Life is not always sequential, and sometimes things can be done out of order. But in some cases there is a required order.
The simplest example is that the person has a grand plan that requires money. But if I point this out, they can get upset at me. It's like, how dare I destroy their plans by rooting them in reality?
If the person would only keep a journal, and make a record of what they want, and a plan how they will get it, and use the journal like a ledger to measure their progress, they would get a lot further in life, and would find that they get along better with the world.
It's possible to take altruism too far, and for a person to neglect themselves. It's important for a person to put their life first, before others. Journaling focuses a person on the here and the now and the "me". From that position of strength, they can act with kindness to others.
May I share a pet peeve? I have met people that have this or that idea of what they want to do. They share the idea with me, and I am honored that they do so, implicitly soliciting my input. Yet in some cases, it becomes apparent that the person talking to me doesn't grasp that they must do "A" before they do "B", "C", and "D". Life is not always sequential, and sometimes things can be done out of order. But in some cases there is a required order.
The simplest example is that the person has a grand plan that requires money. But if I point this out, they can get upset at me. It's like, how dare I destroy their plans by rooting them in reality?
If the person would only keep a journal, and make a record of what they want, and a plan how they will get it, and use the journal like a ledger to measure their progress, they would get a lot further in life, and would find that they get along better with the world.
As Arthur writes:
So, pick up a book and a pen and take the time to start listening to yourself so everyone else you speak to will start listening too.
Purchase leather journals at Renaissance Art.
If you don't have an RA journal yet, get one free at http://www.freeleatherjournal.com.
Journaling in America is not associated with Renaissance Art. I receive no financial benefit from promoting Renaissance Art.
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