One ^Simple Idea
My promise: that from a remarkably simple idea about how our minds work and our commitment to try we can work our way to a more happy and healthy mind. However, the trouble we face about healing our own mind is that we never know how sick or healthy our mind is. And we cannot know how sick or healthy our mind was until after we have found healing significantly. The trouble with helping others to heal their mind is that healing ultimately must come from within.
Those are the dual obstacles: to heal our own mind and to help others. We cannot even see the inner struggle of others and at BEST we can only see a distorted view of our own struggle; for that is how the mind works.
If anything, that is why mental health is a hard problem. To the extent we can overcome that, we can manage our own struggle better and even be healed. To the extent we do not, we may never reach sufficient awareness to Know the extent of the problems that make us hostage to needless suffering.
When we persistently lack awareness about our own mental health, it is called anosognosia. For instance, we list this lack in connection with schizophrenia, bipolar, post-traumatic stress, stroke or traumatic brain injury.
Besides anosognosia, some of us have been hurt, have endured trauma or, have had a lapse or flood of memories. We may have suffered from a lack or loss of community or family support. We may have become avoidant regarding life in some respect or in general.
For some of this needless suffering, we may receive a diagnosis. However, none of us need a diagnosis to have distorted thoughts, feelings and actions. These distortions are inevitable and a major theme of The Book of ^MESH is that distortions are not intrinsically bad either! However, the needless suffering from these distortions is bad. I claim that anosognosia and lesser distortions are a feature of our mind and not an intrinsic issue. The issue is only that we suffer needlessly and cause others around us to suffer needlessly.
Any suffering, regardless of the size of the distortions in our mind, does not mean we deserved it yet it does mean we need to heal to discern it. For that healing I have coined the acronym MESH which stands for Mental-Emotional-Self Healing or Mental-Emotional-Self Help.
Many distortions obscure the bulk of themselves from view like an iceberg, and so we may find they have unexpected power to stay. As such they may arbitrarily threaten or help us on our journey. A few of them are even more hidden or dangerous. Like a ship that travels unknowingly through shallow water. Though we rarely take direct notice of a distortion in ourselves as such, we may experience them as we struggle against ourselves, others and our world.
We can still have hope when we have the crush of looming suffering in mental illnesses (diagnosed, undiagnosed or misdiagnosed) or when we feel the bumpy ride of other pain and suffering. We can still have hope whether our distortions are seen or unseen by ourselves or by help of others. We may Always Find Hope.
So, it is my firm hope that we may all find healing and a degree of inoculation against the unnecessary struggles. I Hope together we can reduce needless suffering. And I Hope we may gain a better appreciation of how much we all suffer from and maximize our suffering in respect to our distortions and that of one-another needlessly. For that is a point I gain over and over in my journey to write The Book of ^MESH.
With that purpose in mind, here is what I will do for us. I share and establish a model of our mind as that of a few basic building blocks. I give or reference some handy tools to use some of which I have used to develop this very book. I show some concepts that are descriptions of common distortions, some concepts that work to adjust our own distortions, some concepts that are evidence of healing and even some concepts that may Help others or our relation to them.
A little about the style of The Book of ^MESH. In truth it is my intent that I do not offer proof of the model I give except to show its possibilities. I avoid any aim to prove these models and concepts on paper here. We can easily recognize that models and concepts are always at least partially wrong because they are not the real thing and sometimes like distortions (and this book) the ways in which they are wrong (in the literal sense) serve a good purpose (by their metaphorical power to Inspire). I find that what may matter more is whether they can provide insight into a monolithic or complex struggle and that is for each of us to decide individually. Proof of these ideas is a discussion for another kind of book entirely. The model and its concepts Magnify how a mind may appear from within itself without getting lost in the complexity and large variety that we may find or judge to be healthy or SICK.
Although it could be argued that in some respect The Book of ^MESH promotes a certain kind of mind, I believe the principles here are fair enough to accept any variety of mind with all its boldly exquisite talent or its delicate beauty. If I have done my job well to write The Book of ^MESH in accord to its purpose then those who study it will realize that our own mind and that of others works or is perfect yet we have ample room to Improve too. That untapped potential will wait for us: to Heal ourselves, to Help others and to Heal our world in the most remarkable way.
Now it is your turn. Shall we begin?