Hypn07, Day 11: Every team needs a badass
This covers day 11 of 30 for the Hypnotherapy Project, which I’m collaborating on with Los Angeles-based hypnotist hypnotherapist Greg Beckett. You can read more about this experiment, what motivated it and what we hope to accomplish here.
A tool is just a tool: in the hands of a great chef, a knife can create masterpieces; in the hands of a murderer, mayhem.
Yesterday, we met The Edge. I didn’t know her name was The Edge; when she came out, all hardy, strong and pleased-to-meet-you, Greg was asking to meet the part of me responsible for procrastinating. No one could have been more disappointed to see such a friendly, can-do, back-slapping go-getter. This was me procrastinating? NO WONDER I CAN’T GET ANYTHING DONE!!!
But this was not Procrastination—it was the part of me who’d been tasked with procrastinating. And apparently, I had some pretty fierce need to not get things done; we put the biggest, loudest badass of the bunch on the task.
Not an especially nuanced nor strategic thinker, this Edge. Give her a job and she gets it done, but she never questions orders. I guess I had more fear, more to protect than I’d reckoned with.
God bless Greg. He asked The Edge if she might be persuaded to be errand girl for some of the more neglected officers of communicatrix Command Central—say, the Financier, who’s been patiently waiting by the open, dusty vault for eons, or Self-Esteem, who’s simply never been—and got a resounding “yes!” I swear, I have a Selling Machine for an Edge.
For those of you laughing at all this, please note that this morning, before work hours, The Edge took the Financier, Monkey Brain et al on a fine, three-mile walk to make both a personal and a business deposit—and that a few of the checks fell just inside the 90-day safe range. Granted, there weren’t any colossal-sized checks in there, but all told, there was enough to cover the rent and treats for the whole gang. [In the comments, a reader pointed out that this paragraph was a bit unclear. What I meant to illustrate was that I am: (a) so fearful of de-vague-ifying my money that I'll put off dealing w/ it for a really, really long time; (b) like most fears, when you turn the light on it, it is not as big or horrid a reality as you thought; and (c) I like the idea of myself as a kind of nerd version of the Hole-in-the-Wall gang.]
That Monkey Brain…she sure do like Peet’s coffee…
xxx
c
Image by Erica Simone via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.
TOPICS: change, Hypnotherapy Project.
6 Comments, Comment or Ping
Iron Fist
Awesome, not everyone has the guitarist from U2 as part of their unconscious.
All right, seriously, if I may ply you with some questions: do you find it useful, outside of the context of therapy (i.e. as you go about your day) to continue to think of these unconscious parts as people? And as such, do you ever address them directly?
Jul 17th, 2007
Jean Browman
I’m familiar with the power of psychosynthesis and the concept of subpersonalities. It’s made a big difference in my life. I am confused by your comment,
“The Edge took the Financier, Monkey Brain et al on a fine, three-mile walk to make both a personal and a business deposit—and that a few of the checks fell just inside the 90-day safe range. Granted, there weren’t any colossal-sized checks in there, but all told, there was enough to cover the rent and treats for the whole gang.”
Could you explain that a bit more? Thanks.
Jul 18th, 2007
Not Fainthearted
Wow. Someone (part of you) actually tasked another part of you to procrastinate. That’s brilliant!!
The best part of these posts of yours is trying on your names for these sub-parts and seeing if they fit around here. Several have, although they’ve insisted on name changes (that would be the 2-year old screaming “MINE!!!”) but the general shapes are eerily familiar.
Rock on.
Jul 18th, 2007
communicatrix
Iron Fist - Haha. Exactly my thought.
As to the subpersonalities, I think of it more like the way writers see the many diverse characters that populate their fiction, plays, screenplays, etc:
1. they are all parts of me, even if the way I talk about them makes them look different to others
2. I can definitely access them, talk to them, etc, but it’s more of a creative musing–a problem-solving device–than some kind of a psychotic break
Of course, I *think* I’m not nuts; I have a shrink appt. tomorrow, so maybe I’ll confirm it (or not!) then.
Jean - I think that was just sleepyblogging. When I look at the sentence, it’s spectacularly unclear. Thanks for pointing it out; I’ll make the fix, and if it still doesn’t make sense, let me know.
NFH - I know, right?!? I don’t know much about myth, but I’ll bet most of us have a lot of similarities in our subpersonalities. Probably profoundly challenged people (I’m thinking of Sybil) have more, or some different ones, but for most of us, we’re just internalizing and processing the phases of life we go through.
Jul 18th, 2007
Iron Fist
I really appreciate you letting me pester you with all these questions, btw — I find this whole series fascinating.
I don’t know if you’ve ever ready Frogs Into Princes by Bandler and Grinder but they describe a process for therapy in which the subject communicates directly with her/his unconscious parts, addressing them as the ‘one in charge of X’, etc. Giving them names like this is an interesting twist. Again, thanks for your answers.
Jul 18th, 2007
communicatrix
Iron - have not read it, but it sounds interesting. I like the names, but then I’m a hyper-creative (read: non-linear, non-mathematical) type.
Jul 22nd, 2007