The Escribitionist
No longer a student in a blog class, I am prepared to finally leave the nest and try out this "blogging" thing on my own.
Each post is now free of contractual obligations and weekly quotas, so now I can post when I want to! Laziness always wins!
Real Name: Mark Kelly Cell: (361)212-1714 Member Since: January 22, 2008 Last Signed In: November 06, 2008 Profile Views: 298 Blog Views: 456 Vanity Lives -or- The French Bath Blog words will appear the past inside the present Trauma, Victimization, and Victory - Chapter 1 Trauma, Victimization, and Victory - Prologue. Poverty and Education -or- Write Only What You Know Lessons learned -or- I'm sleepy and I want to rant ! Testing 1, 2, 3 .... - or - a (very) brief history of my internet life. January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 
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Trauma, Victimization, and Victory - Prologue.
Yesterday as I was driving to pick up my dose of
anxiety medication, I had one of those moments in
life that I like to call "revelations." It's one of
those moments that I have a thought that seems so
profound that I will never forget it. It's not
something I really need to write down; it's a thought
or a fundamental belief that stays with me forever.
Through my studies of psychology, I have been
presented with many different ideologies, ethics -
standpoints - of many different psychologists. I
consider the science of psychology to be one of great
division and differences; many of the core theories
that surround the various schools of thought are
accompanied by some pretty fundamental beliefs that
must be accepted fully or in part. For example, there
are today two very different fundamental cornerstones
that will cause somebody to think of psychology in
two very different ways. One is called "dualism"
which is, for the sake of simplicity, the belief in
the existence of something separate than our physical
bodies. Basically dualism is the belief in the
existence of a mind. The other end of the spectrum is
called "monism." As you may have guessed, this school
of thought essentially rests on the notion that there
is no such thing as a mind and continues forth from
there into various psychological theories. I took a
course on the history of psychology and I was met
with so many different ways of thinking about the
science that I left the class more confused than
ever. What is psychology? What are the intentions of
psychology?
I can shoot off answers to those two questions
without any trouble - Psychology is the study of
behavior. The intention or the goal of psychology is
to learn what causes certain behaviors with the hope
of one day predicting what people (or animals) will
behave and understanding the influences of genetics
and environmental factors. This goal to predict human
behavior with the intention of putting an end to
destructive things that we do is pretty grandiose in
my opinion, but then all of science exists to
observe, understand, and predict. So that was a bit
more than just a textbook answer to what psychology
is all about, but this is my general understanding of
it as of right now. To really grasp what psychology
has set out to do is really to grasp the very nature
of humanity.
These big questions - questions like "What does it
mean to be Human?" - are extremely provocative from
my perspective and they are a big reason why I've
chosen to spend my life studying human behavior. For
right now, I'm not going to pick a side as so many
people tend to do. I can't step onto this podium I've
rendered just to tell you that there is no such thing
as a mind, or to tell you that all of reality is
created by your mind and that things don't really
exist unless we see them. Both claims are remarkably
crass and feed upon the frenzied superstitions of the
overly zealous or the staunch skeptic who has closed
his perspective to a precious few beliefs. I believe
that if I am ever to become a scientist, if I am ever
to really say "I am a psychologist" , I am going to
have to keep all of my beliefs neutral with the
possibility that anything that I think of as being
true can be drastically changed with the light of any
new evidence that might cast even a slight shadow of
doubt. Thus, as a student I strive to keep this
perspective fresh in my mind as I enter a new class
and learn material regarding a very unique and
dynamic science, with every plausible theory
scattered like a puzzle piece amongst a thousand more
plausible theories. These pieces, these constructs,
are just waiting to be all put together into a
unified field.
As I was sitting in my ex-therapists' office (I have
had about as many therapists as I have had
girlfriends. And yes it's more than one ;) ) I
presented him with a question that I felt was
appropriate as a student asking an old, wizened
veteran of the field. "When will I know what
psychology really is?" I asked him. "Furthermore,
what beliefs should I choose when none of them can
really be proven with hard facts?" He looked at me
and smiled as one does when they have rediscovered a
memory long forgotten. "One day," he said, "it will
all make sense. All of the puzzle pieces will fall
together and you will then understand what psychology
is all about."
I knew then that some kind of revelation must occur
before I would really grasp psychology. I knew that
one day, I would have that kind of catharsis that
hits you like a brick and switches a light on inside
of your brain that makes you want to yell it out to
the world. I started this blog with that kind of
feeling, as I indeed did recently have one of these
revelations. Unfortunately it wasn't about
psychology, and I stand before you today empty handed
still; I am a student and a very new one at that. I
am not a psychologist, and perhaps I may never be,
but I know I will always be a student.
It's all about the attitude, and that is what I am
going to write about in the subsequent blogs. The
subject matter is trauma, pain, victimization,
anxiety - everything horrible and disgusting and
negative that you can even imagine.
The subject matter is about victory, life, birth,
laughter, and everything good in life that curves
your lips upward and fixes your gaze into a blissful
and heavenly realm of fulfilled promises and undying
love and potential.
All of this, the extremes in life, are married by a
single fundamental aspect of each and every one of
us. That aspect is the freedom to choose how to react
to any given situation, whether it be good or bad.
That marriage is what I want to delve into
head-first; perhaps I will become that much closer to
my coveted Eureka! when I reach that magical place my
therapist describes... or maybe it won't. It's the
process that makes the journey worthwhile, not the
end.
4 comments from 3 users
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posted by
madhabit
on Mar 8, 2008 at 01:35 AM
bluebutterfly - Thank you so much for the kind words. Your words have really motivated me to keep writing. As difficult a subject as this is.. I need all the help I can get. Thank you for the words again :)
posted by
madhabit
on Mar 8, 2008 at 01:34 AM
SugarMagnolia, thank you for the thoughts. I always love to get input like this and I think you've brought up some really amazing points about what it is to live and be happy. I tend to see each of us as a sculptor would see a block of stone. The image is already there. The work of art is already inside the stone. The artist simply has to chisel it down until he or she can see the art envisioned in the mind. Such is the life of being human. We already have everything we need to be happy. As our lives go on and we strive to live right, to love simply for the purpose of loving and to never use people as means to some end.. as we do this, and live right, our layers of stone will fall as naturally as fruit from a tree, and our true potential will slowly take shape just as a sculptor shapes the rock into what it really is - the beauty hidden inside. posted by
SugarMagnolia
on Mar 4, 2008 at 11:15 PM
Madhabit - do you really not realize that "Eureka" moment is now, in what you have turned over and over in your mind and carried out to the world through your hand and pen (so to speak)? The answer IS the journey, the attitude of always being that inquisitive student, of never being satisfied. That "brick" is the realization you have had that your mind is open and searching, always searching for meaning, for the true essence of being human. You, sir, are now navigating your way through the quandaries that are shaping and molding you even as you seek the truth. Whoa, gotta lay off that "special" coffee......... :) Seriously, dude, you are on your way. Keep the stream of consciousness flowing and share with us the wonderful discoveries that lay ahead for you. Peace. posted by
bluebutterfly
on Mar 4, 2008 at 01:14 PM
I look forward to reading whats next.......
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