Dear Sick (not) Happy, Cheery SadSoul:

I would bring you chicken soup if I was there. Since I am not, I am sending you a poem written sometime in the 19th century by Emily Bronte (best known for her novel Wuthering Heights):

No Coward Soul of Mine

No coward soul is mine,
No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere:
I see Heaven’s glories shine,
And faith shines equal, arming me from Fear.

O God within my breast,
Almighty, ever-present Deity!
Life – that in me hast rest,
As I – Undying Life – have power in Thee!

– End of poem.

Please let me know how you’re doing..?

anita

Dear Kshitij: I was out all day and now, it’s Sun night here. I will read your recent post and reply Mon morning (my time)

anita

Re-submitted:

Dear Kshitij:

“my intrusive thoughts add on to my difficulties… It is like a quagmire, all you need to put one foot over it and it will just swallow you in.“-

* Simplified, cognition = thinking, metacognition = thinking about thinking.

Today, I found out today (after reading a reply on the forums by Rosie) of a term called Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS), and Metacognitive Therapy that goes along with it.

I read on the topic that CAS is an unhelpful style of thinking, a vicious cycle where one’s only focus is on one’s problems and the person feels worse as a consequence (the quagmire you mentioned yesterday). It’s about placing all of one’s attention on problems, overthinking pessimistically, and getting stuck. It’s a pattern of negative, pessimistic thoughts and painful emotions that the person can’t seem to let go of, a pattern that include rumination, worry and fixed attention.

The purpose  of Metacognitive Therapy is 1) to discover what the suffering person believes about his/ her thoughts (it’s called Metacognitive Beliefs), 2) to show the person how his / her beliefs lead to unhelpful responses that unintentionally prolong and worsen the suffering, and 3) to provide alternative ways of responding that allow a reduction of the suffering.

What do you think/ feel about the above, Kshitij?

anita

Dear SadSoul:

“I just sprayed my stupid oven for the third time it’s so dirty. The progeny stayed for a few months way back and I only looked at it recently. Not that my oven is every spotless but this is a whole other thing. I need a chisel!“- amazing, to me: about 20 minutes before you posted this, I sprayed my dirty, greasy oven top with some oven-cleaning spray, then wiped it with paper and walked away from the oven, not looking back, putting distance between me and the scene of the crime.

anita

Dear SadSoul:

I used to be terrified of repercussions for something (could be anything) that I said that was terrible and I didn’t know it when I said, shouldn’t have said it, and now this person I said it to, or the person who heard it, will do something terrible to me.

It all came from my mother picking on something I said (.. could be anything) and exploding histrionically and borderline-style, getting her panties up in a bunch TO THE EXTREME.

anita

Dear Peter:

Thank you for the compliment. The Heart Sutra you quoted is indeed very related to the reflections of the Blank Canvas. The emptiness in the canvas (lack of pained form, colors, textures) and the emptiness talked about in the heart Sutra is a very calming reality for me, calming to my otherwise over-active brain. I can sense now, not what will be, but what is eternally (no time). Rushing to fill emptiness (with forms, colors, textures, sounds, flavors, fragrances) is suffering; Accepting emptiness is calming, it brings relief.

I breathe in Emptiness.

anita

Dear SadSoul:

3 glasses of wine and karaoke at the local taproom (I sang two songs, a Hebrew one and the B. B, Kind The thrill is gone), just came back and I feel wonderful star/ legend- in- my- own- mind. I am reading your post about your pet’s toenail: yes, I am praying for you and for your pet!

anita