Slumbering Thoughts*

“Thoughts and ideas can’t be mere illusions; they must have a real existence, as real and perhaps more lasting than the objective things of this world…” - H. P. Blavatsky, Land of the Gods

Photo: K. M. Anderson

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When I was in high school, I decided to take on Saint Augustine of Hippo (who lived in the 5th century AD) by reading one of his famous works entitled, The City of God. In it, amongst many things, he wrote of the importance of memory and of the concept of time. He said that memory enables humans to orient themselves in the present and to understand their position in relation to the future. Without memory, we would be unable to retain an identity as we would not remember who we are; with whom we had formed important relationships; things we had done; or with whom we were related. Even our own names would be unknown to us!

I remember wondering: why is Augustine so hung up on the concepts of memory and time?

At that time, I felt very strongly that he was touching upon something important, but I wasn’t sure why. As I’ve continued searching during the course of my life, I’ve realized that there are many, many issues upon which I disagree with him, but that he certainly did make some important points.

For instance, he didn’t write about memory in terms of the conscious and the unconscious, at least as far as I’ve understood him. But, he did highlight the importance of memory.

So, what are memories? A memory is a kind of thought. What are thoughts?

Some would say that thoughts are merely the result of happenstance combinations of chemicals and a myriad of other constantly changing physical occurrences in the brain. Clearly, this kind of thinking is nonsense. For, if a person dies, their ideas or thoughts don’t die with them. Their thoughts are remembered by those who knew them, those who loved them, those who disliked them and even disagreed with them. Those who are able to share their thoughts via writing, public speaking, social media, or in other ways are able to disperse their ideas widely, often having an impact on great numbers of people. Just look at how Saint Augustine was able to share his thoughts with me - someone living sixteen centuries after he had expired and abandoned this mortal earthly life!

So, thoughts are very powerful things. They can live on, even after a person who thought them has expired. Are thoughts alive? Do thoughts have their own lives? What kind of power resides within a thought?

Let’s hold these thoughts and questions in our memories while I backtrack.

A few decades after high school, I had placed myself in therapy/analysis, again. (I had done this while in my twenties. I’d learned a good deal about myself and my life had changed, but I knew I had more inner work to do.) The doctor with whom I was in therapy recommended that I participate in logotherapy. This is a therapeutic approach developed by Viktor Frankl, a holocaust concentration camp survivor and a renowned neurologist and psychiatrist. (He also wrote the book entitled, Man’s Search for Meaning, to which I have referred in an earlier substack column.) Frankl believed that our primary motivation in this life is to find meaning. He created logotherapy as a way for us to become conscious of our thoughts, and then to examine them for meaning, especially our habitual thoughts. We can be largely unaware of our habitual thoughts or the unconscious stream of thought that runs ceaselessly through our minds. Often, by the time we’re adults, these ceaseless thoughts have become patterns and they can be quite destructive. By becoming conscious of our thoughts and then training ourselves to think differently, we change our perspectives about our experiences, our circumstances, and ourselves, we change ourselves, and we change our lives.

I confess that although I respected Frankl and had read his book several times, I doubted that undergoing logotherapy could really change me or my life. But, something within me nudged me to go to the classes/sessions. It was hard work! I realized that my patterns of thinking, the perspectives through which I viewed my memories, myself and my circumstances were loaded with emotions, many of them negative: harsh, judgmental, hypercritical, and hopeless. As I retrained myself to develop new patterns of thought, and as I re-examined my past with an eye to finding meaning, my inner environment changed and then my outer environment changed and then my life began to change once again.   

There is a well known verse from the Book of Proverbs 23:7 that says, “… as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” Often, this verse is quoted as an exhortation to think positively or to think about “spiritual” things, so that we can live more focused lives. While this is positive, it doesn’t really get to the heart of the matter which is this: we are creators. We’re creating all the time, whether or not we realize it or acknowledge it. All the thoughts that constantly run through our minds are creative forces. So, yes, we are constantly creating our own experiences, our relationships, and our own lives.

Thoughts are energy. Thoughts are alive. Thoughts are creative.

What kind of energy are you emitting? What kind of life is in your thoughts? What are you creating?

I don’t want my substack columns to get too long, so in my next column, I’ll continue discussing this…

In the meantime, I look forward to hearing from you!

K. M. Anderson

* “For in itself a thought, a slumbering thought, is capable of years, and curdles a long life into one hour.” - Lord Byron

“Our life is the creation of our mind.” Buddha