psychology

I was experiencing a normal dose of morning stress, just getting the family ready to go out the door.

I suddenly wanted more coffee. “I” suddenly wanted more coffee. It would be a quick fix, a quick solution (not a long-term fix).

Who was that? Cé a dúirt é sin? What was that? It was interesting to ask “Hey, who said that?”, and I didn’t have an obvious answer.

Another day, I was dealing with an upset family member who was having a bad day. I wanted a treat for myself to recover, a pain-au-chocolat, no less! “I” wanted a treat.

Who was that?

The second brain? Jung’s Shadow? My habits etched in neural connections? Chemicals, hormones? My very own “self”?

It’s been helpful for me to see this impulse as something of its own sub-system of me, and not a definition of the overall system that my parents named Eoin. At least then I can question it, examine it, try to understand it.