Mabel Todd's writing in The Thinking Body does not let me down! My experience in Freudian Psychoanalysis, which is the reason I'm writing a memoir, has piqued my interest in the unconscious.
Here's what Mabel writes:
"The unconscious is a treasure-house and charnel-house of the creative and one of the keys to physiology."
Part of writing is learning about the creative process while part of psychoanalysis is learning how to honor all parts of life. I think Mabel is alluding to this in the treasure-house-charnel-house reference. Plus Mabel sneakily includes the biological and chemical mechanisms of the body! How great is that! Freud struggled to include the body in his work but Mabel is fearless!
Having experienced the treasure of being with youngest son and his beloved for a few days while sitting around the table making each other laugh and now, feeling the wrenching of letting them drive off into the world, I appreciate Mabel's insights on how these both relate to the unconscious. And now, to follow Mabel's lead, I need to take myself off to exercise class.
How do you touch into the treasures and the bones? How do you include care for your body in your daily life? What do you do? Please let me know.
CLUE: Go out to breakfast! Order something crispy if you remember (I sometimes forget). This morning's order: the Rise N Shine which is two eggs, bacon, and hash browns - last two crispy! I'm glad I remembered this time!
Image: This may be how my unconscious face looks. Double sequin art made this rendition possible. (Thanks Mason)
Since I'm spending all my spare moments revising memoir where I'm trying to describe my experience of Freudian psychoanalysis, (Spoiler Alert: it's not all wine and roses), my peeks into The Thinking Body* are short in duration. Luckily that's all it takes to find thought provoking sentences:
"Guilt, craft, vision, meanness, ecstasy and lure appear in certain arrangements of arms, hands, shoulders, neck, head, and legs."
What position are your arms in when you feel guilty? Where do you put your hands when you think of the future? What position are your shoulders in when you feel mean? How does ecstasy appear in your neck? How do your legs express lure? What part of your body do you pay the most attention to? For me it is keeping shoulder blades down.
Notice how many feelings and judgement you make when you are observing people and thinking about your self and your body. I resolve frequently to stop judging; perhaps if I describe what I'm observing as an arrangement of limbs, I will feel concern not criticism. Please let me know!
CLUE: Tell someone that you appreciate them. You both will feel better! Be specific. Tell me your experience please.
*The Thinking Body by my new favorite author Mabel Todd
Image: This photo is of the deck where we had our wedding. We converted it to an outdoor room. Fun to see it again! I love how green everything is now in Iowa as well as in the picture. And I also love being married.
Mabel Todd's book, The Thinking Body (1937) arrived. It's a used book; looks like new. Here's what I found on page one:
"A casual world over-emphasizes the face."
Not sure what she's getting at so I read the next sentence:
"Memory likes to recall the whole body."
Still not sure what the point is until I read the next sentence:
"It is not our parents' faces that come back to us, but their bodies, in the accustomed chairs, eating, sewing, smoking, doing all the familiar things. We remember each as a body in action."
I remember my mother in her chair recycling greeting cards and my father sitting at the table in the kitchen reading the newspaper. This feels like a poignant way to think of them. Remembering their entire being, their bodies.
When you remember your parents, how do you think of them? When you think of people, do you just think of their face? I think when she says the casual world she means that we don't pay enough attention to the body. What do you think? Do you pay attention to your body and what it needs?
Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall
CLUE: When I told my personal trainer that I hadn't been doing planks, she told me to do one a day. I just might do that. I think she's thinking I will do more, and I may, but I'm going to take her at her word and just do one and see what happens. What is something you want to do more of but resist? Can you break it down to one time a day? Let me know how it works!
Image: I figured out how to download pictures from my camera again so I can share a more recent picture of my desk. Mabel's book is the beige one you can see.
Last week I used a quote from Mabel Todd that I found in The Aware Athlete. Curious who this woman of wisdom was, I googled her. I only ordered one of her published books, The Thinking Body. It's not here yet but I'm excited.
You know how I've been investigating the unconscious? Listen to this! Mabel's focus was on the "subtle influence of unconscious intention and attention". Now you know why I had to purchase her book!
In addition, she was an editor for Emily Dickinson! I'm so glad to know about her. I also read that she was an accidental activist for women's rights. I wish she would have written a memoir. I love connections like this!
And my connection with the name Mabel just popped up! When I was a girl, Mom and Dad's friends, Mabel and Ira, gave my siblings and me, pajamas every Christmas! What a thoughtful woman Mabel must have been! Have you ever known a Mabel? What do you get excited about? Let me know!
CLUE: List three reasons that you are glad you are going or three reasons you are glad you are not going to the Iowa State Fair. Then celebrate!
Image: I'm having trouble getting pictures from my camera to load on new computer so decided to use this path picture from one of my previous walks.
"The intelligence of an individual may be measured by the speed with which he/she orients to new situations."
Scott Forrester writes that this quote* from Mabel Todd illustrates the concepts of fitness, dynamic balance, and true flexibility.
This morning I would say I'm getting stronger physically and can stand on one foot longer but that flexibility to new situations is where I'm not very smart. I've been taking over the wheel more often in preparation for our road trip to Utah in September. I am feeling more comfortable driving - except when I am not familiar with the roads I'm navigating.
I blame it on my cataracts and the virus damaged optic nerve in left eye that messes with depth perception. While those are undoubtedly factors, I think it is more likely that fear and anxiety are the culprits.
The quote helps me in ways that are difficult to describe. I just have to trust myself and know that I can see well enough to go to new places. Fear and anxiety interfere with intelligence - don't they?
How do you manage in new situations? Do you avoid them or seek them out? Do you ever feel fear or anxiety? Please let me know if you have ideas about driving in familiar or unfamiliar locations that would ease my mind.
CLUE: Eat a cantaloupe! We got a really sweet flavorful one that restored our faith in them.
*The Aware Athlete, page 243.
Image: This photo of my desk is when I was still using my laptop. If I took a picture today the desk would't look as neat. Creativity is messy! I am starting revision on Chapter 15!
