Category Archives: Insights

These are insights into life, gained from my inner processing, that might be useful for other people.

My Method: Cartoon Processing

Posted on by
Reply

Ok so today I wanted to post what I’ve been doing to come up with the “discoveries” I’ve been claiming to find.

Basically, I am putting my stream of consciousness on paper – not just as words, but also as little cartoon faces. The faces are important as they show the emotion behind the words, which allows me to see the character of the thoughts in my head – whether or not a certain thought is from a negative or positive part of myself, for instance.

With this tool, I have been approaching various topics that I want to delve deeper in to. My largest exploration so far as been in “self-doubt”, which is still ongoing. My goal in starting that section was to dispel my self-doubt by uncovering and resolving all the reasons why I doubted myself at any time. And while there are lots of reasons, I have felt more and more confident in more areas, and I feel more free.

But regardless of what I’ve explored, the method has proven extremely useful for whatever I’ve tackled with it. Often, when I’m feeling some kind of inner turmoil, I turn to this “cartoon processing”, and I get some kind of revelation about it as a result, and the turmoil subsides. New issues keep coming up, and I feel as though I’m just scratching the surface.

But since the cartoon faces represent my conscious stream at that moment, I know that it’s real – at least in the sense that I’m not postulating how self-doubt works – I’m living all the reasons why I’m doubting myself.

Anyway, it’s really easy if you want to try it. Just take out a piece of paper and think about something that bothers you. Draw a face to represent yourself (the part of you delving into this issue) and think something like “I want to resolve (insert issue here)”. Write that next to the face. Then, see what the response is inside yourself. Maybe it’s a cynical voice, saying “There’s no way you can resolve that!” or a fatalistic voice “Oh, we’ve tried time and time again to resolve that, we certainly can’t do that!” And draw what you feel is an appropriate face to that voice. Then let the conversation begin.

You may find as you continue that by representing these familiar forces as separate beings hashing it out on paper, that you notice patterns you never saw before, and ways to resolve the conflict that you didn’t think existed. You may just solve something that’s been plaguing you for years. And that’s always a relief!

So if anyone tries this, or has any questions about it, let me know. I’ll continue to share my own findings too. Maybe I’ll even scan in a page from my processing as an example. And if you do try it, I hope it proves useful!

Eat Happily First

Posted on by
2

Tackled the cause of overeating and obesity today – in this instance, eating for comfort. What I discovered was that the central problem is NOT the desire to comfort one’s self with food, the part that gets happy when it eats food that tastes good. Rather, the problem is in the DEMAND to stop eating for comfort.

“We are unhealthy (or embarrassed because of our weight) again! The sweets-eater is to blame! Attack!”

This kind of self-abuse makes the “sweets-eater” sad. And that part of you is eating in order to be happy! So, while self-abusing you may make all sorts of resolutions to change (“Ok ok! I’ll go on a diet! Just stop!”), but that’s just to postpone the punishment. That’s one reason why the efforts fail. The whole enterprise is done under your own threat of punishment.

“But how do I lose weight, if not through self-punishment?” You might ask… and I guess this is just my solution, but it’s probably better if you put your own happiness above health or appearance. If you were totally happy all the time anyway, you’d be more able to make the change, as far as I can tell, because at that point you’d see it as a fun adventure to try new ways of eating and living.

And the self-punishing part of you? Well, it was trying to solve problems, like being unhealthy, so instead just show it that the best way to solve problems PERMANENTLY is through examining your motives fairly, and working through the truth of the matter, and making real decisions based off that information, rather than knee-jerk self-punishment. You’ll be much happier! And you just might lose weight. Or, that’s how it seems to me so far.

Don’t Believe Me

Posted on by
1

For anyone who has taken a passing interests in my posts: don’t believe me.

In fact, don’t believe anyone! Even when I say “don’t believe anyone”.

The thing is, that all of the things I’m posting are true for me, in my experience. But who’s to say I have the complete perspective. Or, moreover, who’s to say that your interpretation of my words is the same as the experience I’m trying to communicate?

As I take it, if something creates a true experience in you, then, while it may be hasty to believe it fully, you can at least note that something has been sparked inside of you that could be important to investigate.

This is why much of philosophic and religious texts are pointless. You haven’t come to the experience of the truth yourself, so you’re just creating a bunch of mental constructs that seem interesting or plausible.

That’s not to say, either, to not trust anything. You know when you’re hungry after all. You also know what you’ve experienced the joy of a freeing realization.

All I’m aiming to do in these posts is share some insights I’ve found while solving various inner issues, as I solve them. Please don’t believe them – but I do recommend experimenting with them using your feeling, rather than thinking, sensitivity.

Who knows what treasures may lie in unexplored corners of yourself, right this very minute. : )

Fear of Thoughts

Posted on by
1

This one might be pretty obvious, but…
If you do not want to think certain things, and are afraid of thinking them – those thoughts will pop into your head and freak you out. Once you see that it is the fear of the thought that causes the thought, then you can bust down your unfounded fear. You got this!

Ignored Inner Child

Posted on by
Reply

So, today I discovered that unless you befriend your “inner child” (whatever that means to you…), and decide to work with it to achieve greater joy and happiness in life, it will try to cause havoc and distress inside you to try and get your attention.

If you feel distressed in this way, look for the voice that says something like “…hellooooooo? are you listening????? are you just going to be lazy and blah for the rest of your life??? I want to be happy you bastard! RAWRRRRRGGG”
or just ask yourself “ok, inner child, what’s wrong?” If the reply you get is full of complaints, refocus on “well, what is it that you WANT?” By showing that you want to focus on a solution, you resolve the inner conflict.

Many people, in response to this kind of inner problem, turn to addictions – alcohol, food, the company of other people. But the problem can only be solved with attention to your own needs and desires. Don’t ignore yourself! : )

Avoiding Pity Control

Posted on by
Reply

Discovered that one of the most important ways to not be controlled by others is to not give in to being manipulated by pity. People can use the fact that they don’t love themselves, that they want a friend, as a means to control others into remaining their friends, or doing things the other person would rather not do.
“What?? I knew it! You DO hate me!! T_T”
No, it’s just that you want to do something else, or that you dont like the same things as the other person, and want to go elsewhere.
On the other end – learn to love yourself, and you won’t have the compulsion to control.

Helping Friends with Analysis vs. Comforting

Posted on by
Reply

Found out today that if you try to help your friends, say by analyzing their problem in order to discover a solution, they might get pissed off at you, and claim you’re not being their friend. That’s not to say you didn’t mean well, but your friend really just wanted to be comforted, rather than analyzed. Their problem may seem big, but they’re despairing about because they do not have the inner comforting necessary to handle it themselves. So comforting them is a much better immediate solution, and then they’ll know that you care about them, rather than about yourself appearing like the cool problem solver you’d like to be seen as. At least, this is how it worked out for me.

The fantasy of the friend (feminine energy friend) might be something like a sparkly guy on a white horse riding in to save them from their enemies, but that too seems lame to the problem-solver (you, perhaps). Truth is, when your friend gets comfort, despite your non-sparkliness, they just might forget their fantasy and appreciate you as you are. In this environment, friendship blossoms.

Keep in mind though that though traditionally men and women play these roles, we have within us both perspective, the “male” and “female” in the above conflict – that’s how I “discovered” it – by playing through it in myself.