I want access to the myths Freud says my mind has created for me. If my mind tells me that I'm a kind of Odysseus facing monsters then I want to see those monsters. If my mind is constantly cranking out stories to make sense of the world, then I want to know what those stories are.
I want to develop a gut feeling about what the mysteries of life really are. I want to run through Daliesque landscapes.
Before I leave I have to tell you how this desire to know what's in my mind came about. It goes back to the time my daughter was a young teenager and was reluctant to cut my hair. One day it dawned on me that she didn't want to touch my hair because she unconsciously believed that if you touch an older person you become old yourself. Of course that's not true, but it struck me that I believed that myself when I was a kid. Maybe all kids believe it. Maybe it sticks with us even when we become adults and know better.
Lots of us have beliefs that defy common sense. I don't believe in ghosts yet I wouldn't want to spend a night in a haunted house. I can't help wondering how many of these contradictory beliefs I entertain. I assume I have all the common contradictory beliefs...the belief in good and bad luck, etc., but I'm at peace with that. What gives me pause is the thought that maybe MOST of my beliefs fall into this category. Maybe a large number of the important decisions I make every week are influenced by the mythology I developed as a kid.
If that's true then I'd like to know what that mythology is. I'd like to know what kind of world I've constructed for myself.
6 comments:
Who did that amazingly surreal painting at the top? It looks so awesome. And what are some good documentaries on Sigmund Freud should I watch?
Roberto: That painting is by Dali. The original color painting is a kind of light orange and isn't nearly as impressive as the black and white version with the contrast and saturation turned up.
"C": Holy Mackerel! I finally found the offending post you mentioned and your comments were so integral, and fine-tuned deletions from Blogger are so difficult, that I don't think I can change it. Sorry. I would like to have made the change just to give you peace of mind.
I'll wait a couple of days and read the post again. Maybe I'll figure out some way of doing it.
did... dd you photoshop Wayne Rooney onto that second picture?
Anon: Wayne Rooney!? Is that who that is?
Yeah, he's a famous soccer player, no idea what he's doing there.
anyway, good luck with that surgery
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