Super Star BLaSt: what about like
Super Star BLaSt: a warm hum
Super Star BLaSt: like womm
Super Star BLaSt: wommmm
MaGiTekKx: i dunno, i'm not really into womms
MaGiTekKx: i'm more like into dumes and swomes
Super Star BLaSt: dume?
Super Star BLaSt: like dooooooom
Super Star BLaSt: or dummmm
MaGiTekKx: but like a soothing doooooom
Super Star BLaSt: like, dmmmmmmm even?
MaGiTekKx: i think i like it with the pervasive oooooom
Super Star BLaSt: hmmmm
So, we all know that our minds love patterns, right?
Why do people get into a "rut"?
Why do people get addicted to something, not physicially, but
in such a way that DOING the thing was easier than not doing it?
Why do people have relationships with someone that they logically
know is no good for them, but continue them anyway?
Why do people enjoy texas holdem poker so much?
Why do certain things make us happy some of the time, and other times they seem to have no effect?
Why do we find it so impossible to not get in the same arguments
over and over?
Why do we find complex symmetry, fractals, and vibrant colors beautiful?
Why do we take the same route to work every day?
Why do we love simple, repetitive music so much?
Anyway, there are various OTHER reasons for all that stuff, but the linking reason is the human mind's tendency to patternize.
Our minds are basically sorting machines. Our minds classify information, feelings, body processes into simple categories that we can understand.
This is done at an unconcious level, so we do not always realize it. If you were to break any feeling into it's source information, you might be surprised as to what you find. For example:
Test case: Pretty chick smiles at you
unsatisfied + nothing to look forward to + 3rd variable = still depression
OR
unsatisfied + nothing to look forward to + 3rd variable = happy
The 3rd variable in this case is how pattern-oriented you are to this type of situation. If you are USED to being unsatisfied and having nothing to look forward to, your baseline is established there, so you will be in the +happy spectrum. If you are used to having everything you want, happiness is very difficult to achieve.
So what's the point?
I hear you ask...
The POINT is... you can positively affect your life by knowing of this phenomenon!
If your world comes crashing down on you, you must try to get used to it as soon as possible. I'm not saying "don't be optimistic!". I'm saying, appreciate the things you still have by imagining what life would be without them.
ALSO, KNOW that your brain will form patterns without you knowing about it. It is your job to erase those patterns if they are detrimental. In an abusive relationship? You MUST do something drastic to break the pattern!
Addicted to heroin? You MUST break the pattern drastically. A slow regression from any substance is a bad way to do things. Your brain isnt addicted to the substance, it's addicted to the pattern.
Unhappy with your job? QUIT. Force yourself to get out of the pattern.
In a rut? FORCE yourself to do something drastic.
Your brain can be your best friend and your greatest enemy. Knowing is half the battle!
Sunday evening, I can hear the traffic choppers circling overhead, potent reminders of tomorrow morning's hectic commute to the university. What is it about sunday evening that brings me so much tension?
Logically speaking, Monday will be just like every other Monday: a dull stream of mindless drudgery until I can return home and force myself to go to Krav Maga.
But still, the sense of foreboding is always overwhelming. I feel like grasping the last minutes of the evening and holding on forever... or at least until I can't stay awake any longer.
But try as I might to "reason" it away, that feeling is still there, pulsing in the pit of my stomach along with the Vindaloo I ate a few hours ago.
It's like those dreams where you're in school with no pants on; when you're trying to run from a garbage truck but your legs move in slow motion...
It seems like I'm always fighting against the clock now. My "free time" speeds by, while everything else moves at a snail's pace. Every single day I'll look at the clock and say "It's 9:00 already?!".
I don't understand how people can live like this for their whole lives. Working 8 to 5, coming home to enjoy 3 or 4 free hours (if you don't have to do something semi-important, like laundry), and then saying good night to everyone and starting the cycle over. I love working, don't get me wrong... But it's not really fun anymore.
I need to be a rockstar, or something. I want to spend more time doing the things *I* want to do. But that seems impossible.
I just can't stand doing the same stuff every day. I need to make that pattern more complex or my brain says "wot tho fook?".
