Act as You Mean to Become
Chris Hadfield writes in his autobiography that after he saw the Moon landing when he was nine, he decided to act the way a future-astronaut who was nine would act.
When I was nineteen, similarly I decided to try to overcome Fear––which was bugbearing me––on behalf of my future self.
I don't mean I pushed myself to do things I was afraid of--I've never been Boy Scoutish. It was more inward; for instance, I used to envision Fear melting like ice.
That seems to have helped. At any rate, I'm not so much bothered by Fear, here at midlife.
Recently I thought, How 'bout if I try that technique on my old bugbear Resentment?
How would I act if I were free of it? Maybe I'll try that, on behalf of myself as a resentment-free old person.
I don't, however, try to rip away or destroy my less-than-pleasant bugbears, like some people advise.
That's psychic violence, and it works about as well as any violence does, leaving scars that ache forever.
I imagine, instead, the bugbear mellowing, maybe into a bear like this one from a medieval bestiary:
Chris Hadfield writes in his autobiography that after he saw the Moon landing when he was nine, he decided to act the way a future-astronaut who was nine would act.
When I was nineteen, similarly I decided to try to overcome Fear––which was bugbearing me––on behalf of my future self.
I don't mean I pushed myself to do things I was afraid of--I've never been Boy Scoutish. It was more inward; for instance, I used to envision Fear melting like ice.
That seems to have helped. At any rate, I'm not so much bothered by Fear, here at midlife.
Recently I thought, How 'bout if I try that technique on my old bugbear Resentment?
How would I act if I were free of it? Maybe I'll try that, on behalf of myself as a resentment-free old person.
I don't, however, try to rip away or destroy my less-than-pleasant bugbears, like some people advise.
That's psychic violence, and it works about as well as any violence does, leaving scars that ache forever.
I imagine, instead, the bugbear mellowing, maybe into a bear like this one from a medieval bestiary:
Is that bear sucking on a dead fox?
ReplyDeleteBINK: Looks to me like it's eating a fish, tail first.
ReplyDelete