Snow & the subconscious

[annwfyn]

I'm sitting in London watching the snow fall. A bit of me thinks the snow is wonderful. It is soft, it is white, it looks beautiful when it settles.

A bit of me is watching it with dread.

I'm meant to be leaving in about an hour to drive to Oxford to hand an essay in, and then this evening the plan is to drive up to Birmingham for riksowden's birthday and then ksirafai and I are meant to be driving back to London for the rest of the weekend. I've driven in snow before. I know it's evil.

I'm also in an odd and comtemplative mood today. I'm pondering a lot of things, which don't really even make sense in my brain yet. Does the subconsious really exist? Is it possible to do something for reasons that on no conscious level you are aware? Or is the subconscious just a word we use to describe the bit of our brain which we don't always admit to?

I've been pondering that since yesterday.

Ach. I may try and think about such things less and about Byzantine ivory more.

Comments

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders
What the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of

OK, quoting TMBG lyrics isn't helpful as such, but...

I'd say, ' a bit from column A, a bit from column B'. You can generally track down your subconscious motivations for something, if you realise they're there, and if you actually want to.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

*peers inside own head*

I think I'd tend to agree. I tend to think people are smarter than they give themselves credit for, and I think if they want to be honest with themselves then they normally can track down what is actually happening. I'm not very convinced by the existence of a subconscious which contains such peculiarities as an oedipal complex, or a desire to wear purple because it was the colour your nanny once wore.

I mostly don't think there is a bit of my brain which I can't see if I look properly at.

[melsner.livejournal.com]

I'm not very convinced by the existence of a subconscious which contains such peculiarities as an oedipal complex,

There's no such thing as an oedipal complex?

To be an utter geek, I've seen evidence of subconscious through roleplay... "Why did I just do that in-character? oh god, when I go back and read my character's history, that makes utter sense. Weird." To be slightly less geeky, I've had it pop up in writing.

I also see evidence of subconscious when I wake up without an alarm clock on days I have something to look forward to, and can't wake up on days I don't.

My brain is a lot like my room. Utterly messy and I'm sometimes surprised by what I find in it, because I forgot it was there.

I'm also prone to long monologues while holding the skulls of dead loved ones.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

And I suppose that leads me on to something else - to what extent is it possible to lie to oneself, which I suppose is a part of what a subconscious is all about. I can see how it is possible to deceive yourself horribly about external things - god knows I'm quite capable of convincing myself anything from 'I can do this drive in half an hour' to 'I think what X really meant was...' - I'm wondering about whether it is possible to genuinely say 'I didn't do [insert action here] for [insert motivation here]', be lying, but realise it yourself.