As always, wise words that I will take to heart as an avowed doom-scroller. I do think it is some of both about perspective and distraction. When I was biking distances of 100 miles or more, I would find that my focus just at the tip of my front tire would give the perception of speed while chugging up a long ascent, giving the illusion of speed as the pavement appeared to move more quickly at close distance. On flats and descents, a focus on the horizon would keep the cadence steady and the wheel straight. It was a matter of perspective and mind tricks to guide the mind through endless succession of miles.
Bertie, the wisdom here may be less about what patients read than about the tempo at which the world is allowed to enter them. News asks for a reaction before it allows any integration. A timeless text does the opposite. It slows the first contact between attention and reality, so the mind is not recruited into alarm before it has had a chance to absorb anything.
It strikes me that the IL-10 story is itself an instance of what you are describing. Someone heard a quiet resemblance beneath two populations that looked unrelated, and waited long enough for it to turn out real. That is the same listening the poem asks for, the current beneath the waves. For an anxious patient, that may be a genuine form of care. The world is not denied. It is met only after the mind has recovered a steadier way of hearing it.
Roller coaster indeed….in 4 part harmony there are 3 other voices underneath the top line…..which decide whether that melody is bright and cheerful or bitter sweet…..to harmonize is the answer!
As always, wise words that I will take to heart as an avowed doom-scroller. I do think it is some of both about perspective and distraction. When I was biking distances of 100 miles or more, I would find that my focus just at the tip of my front tire would give the perception of speed while chugging up a long ascent, giving the illusion of speed as the pavement appeared to move more quickly at close distance. On flats and descents, a focus on the horizon would keep the cadence steady and the wheel straight. It was a matter of perspective and mind tricks to guide the mind through endless succession of miles.
ShaloOM, dear friend! XO!
Bertie, the wisdom here may be less about what patients read than about the tempo at which the world is allowed to enter them. News asks for a reaction before it allows any integration. A timeless text does the opposite. It slows the first contact between attention and reality, so the mind is not recruited into alarm before it has had a chance to absorb anything.
It strikes me that the IL-10 story is itself an instance of what you are describing. Someone heard a quiet resemblance beneath two populations that looked unrelated, and waited long enough for it to turn out real. That is the same listening the poem asks for, the current beneath the waves. For an anxious patient, that may be a genuine form of care. The world is not denied. It is met only after the mind has recovered a steadier way of hearing it.
as always, another post that is balm for my soul! thank you Bertie!
Roller coaster indeed….in 4 part harmony there are 3 other voices underneath the top line…..which decide whether that melody is bright and cheerful or bitter sweet…..to harmonize is the answer!
Beautiful perspective! I feel a connection with this current in the presence of art, especially from past cultures and historical periods.