May/June 2000
Articles on the theme "Food For Thought"
Think of These Things
compiled by Bob Gonzalez
Some thoughts on thought. A compilation
of quotations.
Feed the Mind -- Enthusiastically!
by Charles Larsen
Opening the mind to new ideas and experiences
-- an important factor in our growth.
Thought Pollution!
by Dr. Audrey Craft Davis
Thoughts as 'things'. How to control
our own thoughts and the thoughts of others.
Why Kids Kill
by Nancy L. Buchanan
The theta brain and how it makes children
more vulnerable to impressions of violence.
Water For Your Thoughts
by Ernesto J. Fernandez
Your brain may be suffering from dehydration
without you knowing it. The signs and what to do about it.
Improving Brain Function
by Chuck Homuth
Some of the healthy foods and supplements
that can help improve brain function.
Thinking About Thought
by David Findlay
Of consciousness, thought and telepathy.
The Right To Die?
by Constance Snow
Should we feed the body when there
is no consciousness? A discussion about the right to die.
Brain Food
by Marty Kliesh
Nutrients that improve the functioning
of the brain.
Spiritual Tools of Thought
by Rev. Pat Cross
Of self-induced spiritual indigestion
and true spiritual food for thought.
A Diet For Mental Health?
by Patrick Plaskett
What we put in our minds is just as
important as the food we eat. What a healthy mental diet consists of.
Other Feature Articles
Natural Health Q & A
by Lisa Raphael
Of holistic healing. The meaning of
psychosomatic. Cellular memory. The difference between 'transformational'
and 'transformative'.
2000 & Beyond!
by David Findlay (editor), Carol Withrow (contributing writer)
What is... GE (Genetically Engineered) Food?
by Laurie Powers
What GE, GM or GMO means. The risks
and what can be done to limit them.
Minerals from Mother Earth
by Judy Power
Features stones for May and June: anyolite
and fluorite.
Feed the Mind -- Enthusiastically!
Charles Larsen
The infant sits in the high chair, face pink, mouth clamped shut, and the parent coos and baby talks about how good the puréed prunes are. The mouth remains shut and the small round orb reminiscent of a cartoon character becomes a darker red, the eyes lids squinch up, and the desperate parent touches the small spoon to her own lips and waxes forth on how good it tastes. Still the infant remains fixed, unwilling to receive the food so necessary for his growth and development.
So perhaps the first axiom in the notion of food for thought is that you have to unclamp the portal to your mind and soul and be willing to be fed or even seek out food. How often do you hear folk say that their minds are made up, that they don't care what anyone says about the issue at hand, and that is that! Seems reminiscent of the infant described earlier. Most likely, if you reflect on it, you will know that you, too, have clamped the portal to your mind closed at times - I know that I have.
In psychological terms, when a child stops developing in a given stage, we say that he or she is fixated: perhaps the oral or anal or Oedipal stage in the Freudian model; in the trust versus distrust or autonomy vs. shame and doubt, in the Eriksonian model. When the fixation continues into adulthood the achievement of the developmental tasks may only be possible of accomplishment by unpeeling layer upon layer of psychological disharmony to return to that early crisis or stage. Why does the child not proceed in the usual developmental process? Often, due to feeling unable to do so or a fear of doing so. They have been given to believe that they can't do whatever the developmental task is and this is a way to relieve themselves of the pressure to do so, the fear of failure - it is easier at the time. The child may fear that if they move to a more advanced level in a given area - sexuality for example - they will lose parental love and approbation.
One predominant notion about chemical dependency is that when children use chemicals to self medicate, they do not proceed in their development, but remain children and/or adolescents in some crucial ways for so long as they persist in such use. There is the accompanying notion that adult chemical abusers who are self medicating regress to earlier developmental stages and are very immature relative to their chronological age. Of course one doesn't have to use chemicals to remain immature.
The question may be asked why children fixate and why chemical users regress and fixate, but it seems evident that it is existentially comfortable to do so. Erikson referred to his developmental stages as crises - a crisis is an opportunity or a barrier, all depending upon one's situation and mind set.
To be open to food for thought is to be open to growth. At any age change and growth can be frightening, to expose one's self to the chance of failure and possible ridicule by making an effort takes courage. Nonetheless, if one is to experience growth and development as a human being it may be necessary at least to look dispassionately at ideas and activities which are different from those we have become accustomed to or believe we should espouse.
We all know that the infant frustrating the parent in the opening paragraph will ultimately be cajoled into eating the prune purée. How then do we open ourselves up to food for thought? How do we begin to experience the benefits of ideas which may be very different from our own?
One possibility is to take to heart what was said repeatedly at the Florida Suncoast Writer's Conference this year: the muse must be fed in order to inspire. If you are a writer of poetry you must read poems. Always, you must feed the muse in order to have her whisper in your soul. Once upon a time I was fortunate enough to live in Mallorca and pursue my interests by writing full time. Some thought the action reflected a recklessness in my soul, since I sold everything to finance the three year expedition into the literary world. Perhaps they were right. It was terrifying to leave a promising career and live on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, but what rich experiences were available there! How the mind was fed! Also, there was an English language library in the town of Soller, near the eight-hundred-year-old house I rented. It was in those novels and poems that my muse sought nurturing. But it was the total opening to new ideas and alien practices that provided food for thought.
Since the writing didn't produce the great American novel or bring me acclaim, one might ask if I am able, like the woman I referred to in a previous article, to look back and accept my own past. The answer would have to be not always, but it has seemed that those years had their own beauty juxtaposed against the pain and loss -much as the cactus on my balcony now has tiny star-shaped flowers among the spines so hurtful.
In examining the notion of food for thought, it seems that we all might benefit from opening our mental portals to ideas and experiences in spite of the risks involved. To remain fixated in a place without constantly challenging one's ideas and activities is probably comfortable. However, it also seems a state of inertia.
Selling all and going to live on an island isn't for everyone, nor would one recommend it as a way to feed the mind. It would seem, though, that there are opportunities to sample food for thought in the everyday world if we simply open our minds via our eyes, ears, and all of our senses to experiences and ideas - be they in cerebral efforts, physical activities or the quiet introspection often conducive to the development of such appetites.
If, in the end, one finds that one has appeared foolish in the pursuit of some food for thought, it may be well to remember the admonition of Colette, "You will do many foolish things, but you will do them with enthusiasm".
Seeking food for thought enthusiastically seems as good an idea in this new millennium as it was in the last - and as fraught with risks.
Charles Larsen L.C.S.W. has been practicing psychotherapy
and hypnosis for over thirty years. He is in private practice in St. Petersburg,
FL. (727) 323-4220.
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