I am, therefore I think
Weekly Writing Prompt No. 63
Hello everyone, and welcome to the weekly writing prompt.
For those new to The Writing Shed, the weekly writing prompt is the core of my activity here on Substack. Paid members can find an archive of courses I’ve created and access all past writing prompts, flash fiction attempts, and essays in The Index.
So have fun, enjoy the process, and write heaps.
In 1637 René Descartes published his Discourse on the Method in French stating in Latin, Cogito, ergo sum which roughly translates as I think, therefore I am. Since I originally happened across the phrase whilst studying Theology at Uni, I’ve had a problem with it. It’s always felt a bit itchy or scratchy, niggling away in the back of my mind that something about it wasn’t quite right.
Then, way back in the mid-1990s Louise L Hay’s book ‘You Can Heal Your Life’ was recommended when I was going through a particularly tough few years, physically and mentally. That was the start of a conscious journey that led me to the present moment. Throughout that journey, Descartes’s statement has sat at the back of my mind as if it were the key to unlocking a completely different world.
More recently, after being introduced to the work of Syd Banks I came to a better understanding of how the mind works and things started to shift. It felt miraculous in many ways as long-held behaviours I previously thought were ‘me’ were tipped up and shaken out, showing instead they were habits I had simply grown used to.
Over the years, has slowly dawned on me that Descartes’s simple statement holds a fundamental truth, but it was misaligned. It is not that the thinking creates me, rather I am here and a part of my experience of life is that I think. To think is not the precursor to life, it is simply one part of being human. To me, it now makes more sense to switch the statement around so that ‘I am’ becomes the primary, life-creating and affirming statement, and ‘therefore I think’ reminds me that this is something I do because I am.
You may be wondering why it’s important to make the distinction and how changing the order of a few words creates change, it is easily summed up in something a client said about the work we did together. She said I had pointed out to her that she was looking at the world through the wrong end of the telescope, and that it would help if she turned it around.
I suppose that’s what recognising the phrase didn’t work did for me too. I was looking at the world the wrong way around. I assumed my thoughts were real, that every time someone said or did something I didn’t like, or something happened that hurt me and mine, it was a deliberate act. I now understand that life happens, and how powerful recognising that I am is in those moments of challenge. It allows me to take a step back and see events for what they are, rather than what I think they are. I am more present to the now and as a result can respond when I need to in ways that are both healthy and appropriate, rather than reacting as if everything is a personal attack.
The Prompt
It’s all too easy to get lost in thought. In this week’s prompt, I’d like you to imagine what might happen if you, or a character you are working on, literally did get lost in thought?
Please share your poetry or prose in the comments below, I love to see how differently each prompt is approached, and a wide variety of responses demonstrates possibilities to the rest of us we might not have thought of.
Remember, you never know where today’s prompt may take you in the future!
Reflect
I include a reflection opportunity with every writing prompt. I find it helps to write longhand in my bullet journal, as moving my hand across a page seems to create a deeper connection to my inner world. You might like to do the same to see how differently it feels, especially if you write predominantly with a device.
Today, I’d love to know what happens when you consider the two statements below. Does one make more sense than the other, and if so why?
I think, therefore I am.
I am, therefore I think.
As a coach, mentor, and counsellor I work with many people on very different journeys. Some hope to write a best-selling book, while others simply want to be healthier and happier. Each person has a unique way of starting the inner work this requires. If you’re a writer who wants to manifest your writing hopes and dreams from the practical and pragmatic to the esoteric and spiritual, or who would like to clear any subconscious self-sabotage you may be experiencing, why not work with me? To find out more head over to my website by clicking the button below.
Missing in Action
This new section of the weekly newsletter is dedicated to all the words removed from dictionaries over the years. Words that define and describe our world, but which are deemed no longer necessary.
This edition is dedicated to the word ‘charabanc’.
The Weekly Newsletter
Something to consider ..
It seems to me that we have somehow misunderstood the nature of creating our own reality, this video may help us recognise what we are creating with the principle of thought.
The Weekly Writing Competition
Dan Veach Prize for Younger Poets
If you know any aspiring young poets aged 18-23 please let them know about this award. It is free to enter and the closing date is 1st June. You can find out more on the website here: https://atlantareview.submittable.com/submit
With love, light, and laughter
Linda
x
(Image by 139904 from Pixabay)
The post I am, therefore I think appeared first on my original blog Linda Parkinson-Hardman before being removed to an earlier version here on Substack.
I feel that both statements are true. It's an age thing.
When I was young I was taught to think for myself. I read books on building and interior design. I thought about the things I was reading and decided what was good and what needed improving. I thought and therefore it made me what I am.
I decided that I wanted to build houses and design interiors, but hands on and not as an architect. So that is what I grew up to do. Now I am older, people look to me for solutions to their problems.
Because I am the builder/designer. I am the one that has to think up solutions that are not always obvious and can take a lot of thinking about. I am the designer therefore I think.
Reflecting: I'm with Descartes. I think therefore I am. It doesn't mean I only exist because I think, it means that how I exist is because of how I think. Someone told me we are not our thoughts. I believe that we are nothing but our thoughts. Our mind is not the "monkey-mind" ever active, uncontrolled. Our mind is the one thing we can take control of, and we must, because it determines our entire existence. Our "existence" is the combination of the external reality and our perception of it. We have some ability to change the one and total ability to change the other. I think therefore I am = I am as I think I am. When I choose to focus on gratitude and abundance, I find I am happy and joyful and at peace. When I choose to focus on the evil in the world, I find I am sad and on the brink of the deep dark well. I am as I choose to think, and when I remember that, I choose to think about all the beauty that yet remains, and all the wisdom that still lingers.