Sunny Mummy Stacey Sullaphen calls them "Sergeant SHOULD" and the "Head of Defence", I call them "Wrath" (Satan/Hate) and "Grace" (Jesus/Love!), and Oprah columnist Martha Beck calls them, entertainingly, "Fang" and "Buddy". These are the little Jiminy Cricket sized guys whose voices resound in your head competing for your attention and sanity. In the August edition of O The Oprah Magazine, Beck writes on "Finding Your Inner Voice". Here's a glimpse at her editorial par excellence...
"Long, long ago, as a teenager, I gave the name Fang to my socially conscious, verbal, educated mind. Buddy was what I called a perverse, disobedient aspect of my being, who apparently never evolved logical semantics and simply does not understand How Things Are Done Around Here. Fang is wary and suspicious, while Buddy ignores all caution in the pursuit of appealing experiences, like a puppy on LSD. In high school, I vowed to let only Fang run my life. A couple of decades later, I noticed something surprising: Though I generally did listen to Fang, it was Buddy who was always right...
In other words, while the voice of social conditioning manifests itself as a stream of thoughts in the head, wisdom often appears as emotions or physical sensations in the body. Brain-damaged patients who lose function in parts of the brain that register emotion may still understand the logic of a problem, but can no longer reason effectively or make advantageous decisions for themselves. The emotional centers of the brain, along with the elaborate bundle of nerves in your belly (the so-called gut brain), have been evolving far longer than language. And that system, more than logic, is exquisitely attuned to helping you navigate your way through life."
Have a decision to make? Stop by Beck's article at Oprah.com.
Girl With a Satchel
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