More moons ago than I care to work out I first heard about something called transactional analysis. A concept developed by Eric Berne which basically defined the different ways in which we interact with each other and which ones were most healthy and unhealthy for us.
I don’t have enough space to get into that here but looking at this image somehow connected me to that concept, something I hadn’t thought about in quite some time.
I’m ok – you’re ok is the title of a book written by a psychiatrist that developed the concept a bit further but coming back to the image; it speaks to me of peace and tranquility. A space and time where two people could relax and get away from all the concerns and issues around covid and daily life and experience an I’m ok – you’re ok moment at the most basic level. (Oh the power of advertising) but I can just imagine sitting on this balcony, looking at this view and turning to my partner thinking, ‘I’m ok – you’re ok’.
That in turn got me to thinking about the way in which our minds work and the power of images and the way in which our minds link them to knowledge that may have been tucked away for such a long time. How incredible is that? How intricate and complex is our human brain?
It’s beautiful when the connections that it makes are positive ones such as the one I experienced when I saw this image but sometimes our brains can bring up troubling emotions as they make connections between images and memories. Emotions that can take us by surprise and are not always immediately or directly linkable to the image we’re looking at or the situation that we are in at the time. So it can be quite difficult at times to work out where the emotion has come from.
Have you experienced this type of issue? If so how do you deal with it?
What do you think about or feel when you look at the image here? Does it make you feel content? Maybe make you yearn for the chance to go on holiday? Does the mere thought of travel at the moment cause you excitement or maybe fear and frustration because it seems like such a moveable feast still?
As always, if there is something playing on your mind that you would like to talk about MitE chaplains are more than happy to listen.
You can usually find one wandering around the duck pond and surrounding areas on Monday and Wednesday lunchtimes (on the days when the weather is dry enough for people to want to be outdoors for a while).
If, however, you don’t manage to catch up with one of us outside, as always you can contact us via email on info@mitechaplaincy.com where you can request a call-back, or you are very welcome to call me directly on my mobile: 07526 378529 either to chat or to arrange a time to meet with one of the chaplains.
Debbie
We also have a range of resources on our web-site including some that are more specific to the Covid-19 outbreak and some that help in dealing with stress: https://mite.org.uk
If you prefer you can easily keep in touch with us on social media: Facebook: @mitechaplaincy Twitter: @mitesthwarr