4/9

Thought: The way in which humans speak metaphorically ought to be studied for the richness we can discern about the human condition.

Example: People often speak metaphorically when they say that they are "running from the past" or "running from their emotions". The use of this metaphor has psychological drawbacks due to the size and power that this necessarily attributes to the stressor (ie. 'the past' or 'emotions'). I hypothesize that the reason why is because if I were to ask you, who may otherwise be sitting safely somewhere and reading this on an electronic device: "What real-world stimuli could cause you to physically run away from it if you actually experienced it?". My guess would be that any answer that a human comes up with, would be something that induces a lot of fear, anxiety, or concerns for safety and life (ie. a fire, explosion, warfare, etc).

We may reduce the psychological size of distress by changing the phrasing, so that our past or emotions are no longer things that we are "running from"--because there is no need to run.

I think of this as an example of Metaphorical Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

4/10

Business idea: Rent a philosopher to talk to for when stuck in the weeds of nihilism. It can get sticky out there, and while we can always get out...it doesn't hurt to have some help.

4/11

Doing existential psychotherapy with a client is the process of each of us being both moth and firefly. We become attracted to the light each of us brings.

4/18

I watched a video about a family in Pakistan who is, in essence, enslaved at a clay brick making site due to the father of the family needing to take out a loan to pay for medical expenses. The father, his own mother, his wife, and their two children have 'worked' at this brick making site for up to 25 years and they are uncertain whether they're close to paying off their 'debt' as the family doesn't have the contract and there's no information given to them about their payments. Heartbreaking.

I remain hopeful that humanity can achieve world peace--a version of which is not simply an agreement to not engage in war, but to eliminate undue suffering and exploitation from within our species.

4/22

TurboTax is evil.

4/22/2023

Everyone deserves at least 1 friend.

4/30

Being part of a much larger experience, one in which we can share with others, is the meaning of life. Truly, the friends we made along the way.

5/27

Theorizing: Many people in therapy seem to struggle w/ forgiving themselves for some past transgression, but are so readily able to forgive others--this causes frustration in people. I wonder if this is in-part a result of the fact that the concept of "forgiving oneself" is a pretty high-level thought that involves meta-cognition, which develops later in life through teenage years to adulthood. As a result, people primarily grow up experiencing the concept of "forgiveness" through relationship with other people such that they are either the one asking for forgiveness, or instead are the one being asked for/granting forgiveness. And, if processing forgiveness is a 'skill' that develops over time, then we develop the skill of forgiveness through the lens of relationships and in situations where we only have half of the equation as part of our responsibility (either asking or granting).

To forgive oneself may be difficult then because it is a form of forgiveness that we have relatively little to no experience with, as there is no other person who is part of the relationship and so we subsequently are playing both roles of asking and granting. It is similar, I think, to the concept of clapping. If one were to ask someone to clap, they likely would do it easily using both hands. If, however, you then ask them to clap using only 1 hand they would likely struggle (it's important to note though that clapping using only 1 hand is possible, but it takes practice).

Similarly, people may need guidance in practicing forgiveness for themselves and this framing may be beneficial to those who are struggling w/ self-forgiveness. I will need to present this to other people to see if it makes sense or not.

This post was edited by Handcuffs on May 27 2023 04:11pm

Could the last person on Earth find meaning in their life?

I suppose it depends on at which point that they become "the last".