The whole reason I am online right now is to stay awake until bedtime. I did not sleep much last night, and my pregnant baby-chasing body is protesting fiercely. But if I go to bed too early (6:30 would have been fine with me) I'll be awake for the day at 2 a.m., and that won't help either. If I can make it until 9 p.m., I will feel as though I've accomplished something.
Brian and I had an interesting conversation over lunch about unintended consequences. We act and react, and if we're lucky, we will come to understand our own motivations in time. We were talking specifically about how anger follows dissatisfaction and insecurity follows doubt, and if you think it through you can follow the progression of emotions, but the reactions are usually not conscious. I don't mean to imply that we have no control over our reactions, because of course we do. But even if I learn to react differently, the fact still remains that I had an initial emotional reaction apart from my consciousness of it. I guess it's good that we have the ability to automatically react, though. Like breathing, if we had to understand every motivation and choose every response, we would suffocate before we ever finished making a decision to accept air into our lungs. I think it speaks to our ability to adapt and survive.
This, and a conversation yesterday afternoon, and observations from an afternoon meltdown with Asher, have reminded me again of the breadth of human potential. It's staggering to consider the ability to do harm or good that each of us carries.
That's all. Sweet dreams everyone.
Wait, one more thing. I think more people ought to have the name "Plaxico." NOW I'm going to bed.
4 comments:
I think we can control our reactions to our children, but it takes changing our habits. William James contended that much of what we do is sheer habit, and I tend to agree. If we consciously tell ourselves to react differently for awhile, we can change our habits of how we respond. At least, that has been my experience around here with my kids and me lately.
Great post -- very thought-provoking. You should write tired more often!
Emily
Well, if you think more people should have the name Plaxico, you have a unique opportunity to act on that belief sometime in July. I think its gender neutral.
What's a good nickname for Plaxico?
I would say "Xico" (pronounced Zee-co) and Plaxi (pronounced Placks-ee).
Interesting on the William James nod. He had a lot to say on "positive mind" religions like Christian Science and that we could control ourselves and the world around us through our mind...though he did hold out the possibility of supernatural presence. I think that's an interesting dichotomy...what we can control or what might be out of our control.
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