Posted by Sigismund on December 13, 2007, at 15:25:53
In reply to Lou's reply to Sigismund-thnkng, posted by Lou Pilder on December 13, 2007, at 12:48:29
I think, Lou, I was looking at it the other way round......that certain thoughts, but more particularly words spoken, can help one escape mental pain, and that is where the Eliot quote came in. Except that for Eliot, the fire is restorative and refining, whereas I was thinking about finding the right words to avoid pain. So I used the metaphor of fire quite differently.
The problem with finding the right words to escape mental pain is, in my experience, that such words are unexpected and frequently provocative. This could easily be a reflection of the ignorance in which I am mired, of course.
Sometimes though, I do it. I actually manage to find the right words. When this happens it feels funny and anarchic, with psychological resonances.
It seems to be related to staying close to the thread of lived experience. This is why I find the question 'How are you?' so (needlessly?) confronting. The thread of lived experience perhaps does not like to be boxed in? This seems to be close to the question of what we find amusing, because that comes from somewhere that our conscious minds do not control. But our conscious minds can apprehend the thread and not violate it, and if they succeed in doing that we may escape pain.
I wish I could be more lucid.
Eliot himself experienced chronic depersonalisation, I feel sure.
I heard about these people who had taken some LSD. They'd planned to make a meal, but their plans were befuddled by the drug. Eventually one says to the other with great effort. "I've got an idea. We'll open this tin with this tin opener and put the contents in the saucepan and heat it up on the camp stove." And the other bloke says "You see, that's where you go wrong. As soon as you have an idea, you're wrong."
That's the sort of thing I mean, if it makes any sense.
poster:Sigismund
thread:798827
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20070227/msgs/800597.html