days of observations, insights, and contemplations...
by Tyler Volk
Tyler Volk’s “Mind Watching” Series Table of Contents
Day 32 - Thoughts in Clusters
This morning it was difficult to be as observant as I was during the camping trip. How easy it is to fall into the grooves of life with usual behaviors.
Thoughts tend to come in related clusters in time. If a particular thought sequence comes up into consciousness and then fades because it is replaced by something very different, many minutes later the original sequence often surfaces again, slightly modified. It’s as if the sequence sank into the unconscious but still looms near the surface, ready to burst forth again. When items loom that need to be dealt with, they create a pressure to make themselves known in consciousness.
For example, I keep returning to the theme of identity. Or identifying. What do I identify with? What is the I? I am haunted by the experiences I had in the nighttime awakenings during the recent solo camping trip. The tooth pain, the river sound, music in my head, and the inner voice . . . Is it just the voice that’s my main source of identity? Or is identity something beyond all four (or more) streams, something that is weaving them all together as parts into a larger system of self? Does identity rotate around the streams? Of course, going deeper into this crucial yet difficult issue requires thinking about what is meant by the word “identify.” Identify with: Is there a thing, a me that takes on different identities? If we identify with something, then what is doing the identifying? Framing the issue this way posits a dual of relationship. Consider this question: “What do I identify with to make the I? It sure looks paradoxically circular to me.
© 2024 by Tyler Volk
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This series is very grounding and slows down the rush. I find myself travelling out with the author.
Thought clusters. Mine has been around Time this morning. An effort to unhook tasks from clock time and finding myself returning to it. Noticing how much my body needs the comfort of clock time. And then reading this blog deliberately, straying away from timed tasks.
About identity– a life long passion, my pondering is “what is possible to identify with to make I” and what feels impossible…