Hello,

Still one more point of view here -- mine. Yes, Yes and No! There can certainly be great value in factoring in new resources through a reevaluation of what a person could forget. Yet the question for me is one of eloquence. Is it necessary for a given person to have to remember consciously what they have already forgotten, or would it be more useful to elicit these new learnings unconsciously?

I am now thinking about how protective one's other than conscious processes could be. This is from a transcript of this young man that I had worked with who claimed to always experience this bad feeling. I had him move away from any conscious judgment or meta description of that feeling, and went for a sensory based description instead. And although he was able to describe the sensations that made up that set of feelings, he had amnesia for all of the pictures that he was making, and for the actual experience that led to those feelings.

The choice that I made next was based on my own guessing. I figured if it was appropriate for him, considering his present personal development, to see what had occurred, the visual images that I noted that he was making but having amnesia for, then he would have already been seeing those images. Instead, I decided to take care of what needed to be taken care of at an other than conscious level, while leaving in place his own conscious amnesia. I did this through the use of process language, metaphor, and the precise use of anchoring.

After setting some anchors that I would be using as I delivered my metaphor, I looked at him and said, "Did you know that you could actually hear a feeling? I know that it sounds strange, hearing feelings that is, but there is a forty percent overlap between the kinesthetic cortex -- the part of the brain that represents feelings, and the auditory cortex -- the part of the brain that represents sounds. And if you think about it, before you actually represent a feeling or a sound, all you have is a vibration. Even the visual system works this way. You take the light waves of different frequencies and convert them into visual images. And one of the interesting things about all of this is the understanding that you don't have to experience any of these signals consciously in order to make personal meaning out of them."

"But that is the wonder of our neurological functioning, and our own ability to process information at an other than conscious level. This way we can bring into consciousness that which we need to usefully bring into consciousness, and allow all of the other information to be processed at the unconscious level. It's like when you play basketball. You are a member of a team, and although you can effectively play guard or forward, when the coach says that he wants you to play guard you play guard. And when the coach wants you to play forward you play forward. And today he says, 'Play guard,' and you quickly forget all that you know about playing forward, and you take your position on the court as a guard. And even though there are many skills that overlap between the positions, there are also many distinct differences that also exist between the two."

"Now, from my own personal experience when playing the game of basketball, and after hearing me I think you will agree, it is when I am playing the position of guard that I learn so very much about playing the position of forward. And when I am in the position of forward I am learning so much about playing the position of guard. But you see, this is a different kind of learning. It is where you are not paying attention to how much you are really learning. Because while playing in one position you are not consciously thinking about playing the other. But, the person who is playing opposite you is playing in the position that you are not thinking about consciously. Yet, if you are playing in the position of guard while guarding someone who is playing in the position of forward, you can forget to think about what you are doing, and because of your own personal experience you can do it all automatically."

"And while it appears to the conscious mind that you are doing it all automatically, at the unconscious level you are engaged in all kinds of activities. You're unconsciously sorting for past learnings and understandings that you can apply directly in ways that you need to apply them. Things are happening far too quickly for you to take the time to think about them. Instead you may be playing guard against a new team. And when you first get out on the court you may not do very well. But as the time passes, you begin making adjustments in the way you hold your body, the way you move this hand, the way you position this foot or that foot. And as you continue making all of these unconscious adjustments, before long you begin finding what works and you use it."

"And after the game someone may come up to you and say 'What a great play, how did you do that?' You won't remember, and you don't need to remember! That is what dreaming is for. You can go to sleep at night and remember what you need to remember about that game while you sleep and dream. And maybe when you awaken in the morning you will consciously recollect some of those dreams, and maybe you won't. My guess is -- you will instead learn from what you remember while you are dreaming those dreams, while you remember to forget to remember what you don't need to remember. And when you awaken in the morning you will find new ways to begin using all of those new learnings for yourself."

"Speaking of remembering, remember I said that you could hear a feeling. Well if you stop now and think about what is sound if not a feeling? When you turn on your radio and hear the wonderful sounds of your favorite music emanating from the speakers, and you enjoy those great feelings you feel inside as you listen. You may not be thinking about how that sound is reaching your ears. But if you did, you would find that the sounds that you are hearing are really vibrations that you sense through your inner ear."

"Me, even after I turn off the stereo, I often forget that I have turned it off. The other day I was jamming to some of my favorite sounds when the phone rang. I didn't hear the phone ring because the music was louder than the sound of ringing of the phone. But Kaelin did hear the phone ringing and before answering it she turned off the stereo. Me, I didn't even notice that it was turned off. I just kept right on enjoying my music -- on the inside, and all of those really great feelings -- well you can say that they just went with me!"

These were some thoughts on the notion of amnesia. They are not true, nor are they real, just another way of thinking about it.

Be Well

Carmine