3 Sep
2015
Posted in: Practice
By    Comments Off on Come Back!

Come Back!

“Mr. Duffy lived a short distance from his body.” (James Joyce, Dubliners)

I’ve felt like that. I get completely caught up in the relentless stream of narration that goes on in my head. Whole scenes from the past getting played out again and again…often with changes in the dialogue so I come off sounding better or smarter or more appealing in some way…or scenes where something is happening in the future…often with me sounding so convincing or well-informed or so obviously right in some way that everyone around me can’t help but agree with me…etc etc etc….all staring ME in some past or future situation that has nothing at all to do with the situation I’m actually in!

This is called delusion. It’s repetitive. It’s ridiculous. And it’s not helpful.

So what to do?

Come back to the body.

When I notice the sound track starting up…or more likely, that it’s been going on for a while…I can take a minute to check out where my body is (at my desk, in my house) and what this actually FEELS like right now (there’s tension in my shoulder; the side of my hand feels hot where it’s resting on my laptop).

And then I can choose: do I want to keep playing the sound track to the “Story of Me” or do I want to do something to release some of that tension in my shoulder…and/or maybe it’s time to turn off the laptop!

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