Post by donq on Nov 30, 2022 4:37:48 GMT
breaking the fourth wall
Though I've practiced (Buddhist) mindfulness for more than 40 years, I only talk about it with some of my (spiritual) close friends.
Here's the problem:
When I say mindfulness is to observe your thought (feelings etc.) most people don't understand. They believe they are the ones who think, and really know their own thoughts, so what am I talking about?
I believe to understand mindfulness you have to do something like breaking the fourth wall.
Recently, I've just learned the meaning of "breaking the fourth wall". I mean, I saw it in some movies before that a character talked back directly to the audiences, which was funny. Or in the theater, an actor might break the fourth wall physically by walking down from the stage, through the audience and out the door instead of exiting stage left or right.
Here are some stories that show you might not aware of your own thoughts:
A guy is driving through the desert when one of his tires blows out. He gets out of his car and pops open the trunk to look for a spare tire and a jack. He sees the spare, but there’s no jack. “Oh s*#&!,” he yells. ‘I’ve got to walk back to the gas station I passed five miles ago!’”
So he starts walking. ‘I hope he has a jack,’ he says to himself. Half way there he mumbles anxiously, ‘He better have a jack.’ When he’s almost there he growls, ‘That son of a b#@t% better let me use his jack!’”
Minutes later he finally arrives at the gas station. He’s hot; he’s frustrated; he’s fuming. He sees the station owner in the garage and he walks up to him and says, ‘Hey buddy! You can just forget it! Keep your g#@ d@% jack!’”
Freud (1959) once told of a patient who was walking down a street and suddenly, inexplicably, broke into tears. Being psychologically-
minded, the woman quickly reflected back on her state of mind just prior to the crying jag. Although she had not noticed it at the time of its occurrence, the woman now recalled having been preoccupied with a highly organized and morose daydream in which she had been first seduced, then impregnated, and finally abandoned by a local pianist who in reality did not know her at all.
So, yes, sometimes, we know what they think, but sometimes (and maybe so many times) we don't. If mindfulness (or being psychologically-minded) is not there, you might not be able to break the fourth wall of your thoughts.
Though I've practiced (Buddhist) mindfulness for more than 40 years, I only talk about it with some of my (spiritual) close friends.
Here's the problem:
When I say mindfulness is to observe your thought (feelings etc.) most people don't understand. They believe they are the ones who think, and really know their own thoughts, so what am I talking about?
I believe to understand mindfulness you have to do something like breaking the fourth wall.
Recently, I've just learned the meaning of "breaking the fourth wall". I mean, I saw it in some movies before that a character talked back directly to the audiences, which was funny. Or in the theater, an actor might break the fourth wall physically by walking down from the stage, through the audience and out the door instead of exiting stage left or right.
Here are some stories that show you might not aware of your own thoughts:
A guy is driving through the desert when one of his tires blows out. He gets out of his car and pops open the trunk to look for a spare tire and a jack. He sees the spare, but there’s no jack. “Oh s*#&!,” he yells. ‘I’ve got to walk back to the gas station I passed five miles ago!’”
So he starts walking. ‘I hope he has a jack,’ he says to himself. Half way there he mumbles anxiously, ‘He better have a jack.’ When he’s almost there he growls, ‘That son of a b#@t% better let me use his jack!’”
Minutes later he finally arrives at the gas station. He’s hot; he’s frustrated; he’s fuming. He sees the station owner in the garage and he walks up to him and says, ‘Hey buddy! You can just forget it! Keep your g#@ d@% jack!’”
Freud (1959) once told of a patient who was walking down a street and suddenly, inexplicably, broke into tears. Being psychologically-
minded, the woman quickly reflected back on her state of mind just prior to the crying jag. Although she had not noticed it at the time of its occurrence, the woman now recalled having been preoccupied with a highly organized and morose daydream in which she had been first seduced, then impregnated, and finally abandoned by a local pianist who in reality did not know her at all.
So, yes, sometimes, we know what they think, but sometimes (and maybe so many times) we don't. If mindfulness (or being psychologically-minded) is not there, you might not be able to break the fourth wall of your thoughts.
