Ah…another session of life’s ironies. I’m totally gonna write a book with all my Facebook notes. How awesome would that be? “The Irony of Life: An Extensive Essay by Matt Chimento.” Haha.
Anyway, tonight, I wish to talk about the incredible difference I find in the way we go about our lives internally (meaning mentally; having to do with the mind) and how we go about life deeply (and by this I mean having to do with the soul, the heart, and the conscience.)
As we all know, life happens on a much more sub-level than we usually notice. This is the subconscious, which controls our bodies’ normal functions and thoughts. Decision-making is less subconscious than we like to admit, and thus controlled by our conscious minds. We make a decision, carry it out, and call it action. If we make the decision to not carry out the motive thought, we are actively refusing to perform a certain action. By actively, I mean consciously, both willingly and knowingly.
So when we “let our minds wander”, what shall we call this? A conscious effort to become subconscious or unconscious? A choice to not choose? How would we classify “Daydreaming”, “Zoning Out”, or “Distraction”? Can we truthfully say that we unconsciously thought about something we didn’t want to, when we most likely had the ability to control ourselves from thinking that? Wait…is this an argument against ADD? Hmm…
Well, what I’m really getting at is: Have we an excuse when we start thinking things we don’t want to, or even shouldn’t, think about? Can we rightfully say, “I didn’t mean to think about that”?
Secondly, we live on a spiritual level. Some of us don’t like to admit it, but we do. And since I am a Christian, I have to keep a relationship with the Living God and not expect Him to fall into second/lower place. Living like this is probably the hardest thing to do, and getting distracted is the easiest. Sin notwithstanding, can I give myself a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card by saying that I “unconsciously let my mind wander in another direction and I lost my focus”? Is that a sin, or a way of life? Can we break it?
I guess what I’m trying to sort out of my jumbled head is: Am I so full of excuses for my own humanity that I can purposely ignore the Creator of the Universe and then justify it to myself? I hope I just picked it apart to the point of irreconciliation.
Let me know if I got my psychology or theology wrong.
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