HEAD(hed), (n.) 1. the top part of the human body or the front part of an animal where the eyes, nose, east and mouth are. "Your brain is in your head." DIBS(dibz), (n.) 2. a thick, sweet syrup made in countries of the East, especially the Middle East, from grape juice or dates. [Arabic "debs"]--World Book Dictionary, 1976.
“ And by this time they were come up to the great iron gates in front of the house; and Tom stared through them at the rhododendrons and azaleas, which were all in flower; and then at the house itself, and wondered how many chimneys there were in it, and how long ago it was built, and what was the man’s name that built it, and whether he got much money for his job? These last were very difficult questions to answer. For Harthover had been built at ninety different times, and in nineteen different styles, and looked as if somebody had built a whole street of houses of every imaginable shape, and then stirred them together with a spoon.” —The Water-Babies, by Charles Kingsley. Ch.1 (1863)
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"That Awful Disease" (Self-Assessment, part 2)
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Here's one of the greatest magic tricks I've ever witnessed-.
Recently at the Oscars, Actor Matthew McConaughey presented the award for film editing, reminding us (in so many words) that movies are an illusion. We like to be fooled, to be entertained. Appropriately, The Academy thanked the people who go to to movies, keeping them in the business of making illusions. Why? Because we'll believe anything, as long as it makes us feel good.
Do you trust your eyes? We over-trust our eyes, which is why the illusion works. The simplest distraction, the smallest deception occurs and we go spiraling off on a tangent.
Do you trust your feelings? Are they accurate?
About mid-afternoon many folks start get grouchy. But why? Mars, Incorporated has figured it out. Folks aren't grouchy. They are "hangry" and Mars has connected the Snickers candy bar with that feeling to sell their product. Some folks just need a snack and they profit by connecting a message to a feeling that may actually be in accurate. The same is true when it comes to eating in general--we may not actually be hungry but thirsty and our bodies are willing to wring out every drop of water from wherever it will find it. There's a reason why food and drink is always served at meetings where decisions are made.
Can we trust our feelings? Perhaps no more than we trust our eyes. Our emotions may be in overload but are they right? Our perception may say one thing, but what does reality say? I learn this lesson every time I go to the gym--when I start my training I say, "I got this" until I reach the "what have I done to myself" stage because I thought one thing but the workout says another.
"Heraclitus called self-deception an awful disease and eyesight a lying sense." (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philsophers)
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)
Rather than tossing our hands up in despair over our condition, we need to train to be discerning of ourselves, learn to personally assess ourselves. Slow down and not rush to conclusions.
“Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?” EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.3.6 b –8
Legend has it that the astronomer Ptolemy (1st century A.D.) suggested that falling stars were caused by the gods moving in the heavens, thus knocking stars out of their places. Somehow people reasoned that that if the gods were moving, they must be getting close to earth so they would lift their "prayers" or "wishes" (literally, "desires") whenever they saw the stars falling in hopes the gods would notice and grant a favorable answer. But how does one wish on falling star? Once you see it, it's gone before the wish or prayer can be made! The answer is simple: meteor shower. That's how to get your wish. Mrs. Ann Hodges had a wish fall right into her lap. Sort of. In 1954 Mrs. Hodges was sleeping on the couch when a 8 1/2 pound meteorite fell through her house and into her living room where it bounced off the radio and struck her left hip leaving her with a bruise. Not sure what she was wishing, but that's not how to do it. Epictetus hel...
