Wisdom
Mary-Anne Wielinga • June 5, 2023
“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
Thanks Will for that little quote from As you like it.
What is wisdom? And who cares?
If our Heart is our Internal compass and our Inner wisdom (Heart 3), which enables us to perceive how we feel about ourselves, our direction and sense how we relate to others, our Head is a big part of putting that together into a good working life.
At my most recent count, I found 26 points on the head and face alone involved in reacting to worrying about how life was going (or a lack of wisdom).
Let me get you up to speed on what the psychology literature says about wisdom; no one can agree on a single definition. The definitions appear to involve Wit and Virtue, and it seems they can barely agree on that. I read a beautiful paper from China that insisted that wisdom needs to involve the greater good... otherwise it's not wisdom a – it's just clever. One thing they do agree on: a wise person is not wise at all times and in all areas of life. Wise acts need to have time to brew as well... sometimes it looks good in the short term, but a decison can be a disaster seen from a distance.
Essentially, I have boiled this down into two main regions that have points relating to wisdom: the forehead and the low back of the head. Anatomy-wise, this the frontal bones and the occipital bones. I have seen people in distress and frustration rub the back of their heads. I have personally put my head in my hands when I wasn't sure how I would solve a problem.
Wisdom is knowing how to adapt to a situation in a timely manner, and then attempting it. I would say it is a balance of head and heart... wit with compassion.
If our Heart guides the way, our Head riddles through the details and fleshes out the map.
xx Mary-Anne
One concept of health is wholeness in body, mind and spirit. Yet what I consider 'health’ as is not a ‘perfect’ whole body, mind and spirit. Perfect is not really achievable for many (and is the top athlete ever truly happy with their health? I don't know!). We need to look at health in a living state of our body, mind and spirit. The World Health organisation describes health as; "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
Are you left or right brain dominant?
Transitioning to school can manifest in bodily symptoms
We have been looking at the links between our body, mind and spirit. The question remains: how are they linked when we are unwell? The idea that what we think and feel can make us sick has been around for a long time. On the flipside, it is very clear that sometimes we are sick independent of thoughts and feelings. Yet the emotions appear to be there anyway. How does that work? They seem to be impossible to unravel. In fact, I suspect it is simultaneous; it happens together. It may appear that one precedes the other, and perhaps that is true. My theory is that the WHOLE self changes its function and it manifests in one form, most visibly in the body. Yet, body, mind and spirit are damaged at the same time. I know this appears to be different to the comment I wrote in my last blog - that a ‘broken’ body can be whole and healthy. Perhaps the examples in my mind are people that have grown as a result of their injuries? An accident ends with a body becoming paraplegic; however, the person’s mind and spirit grow in strength and stamina. Spiritual and emotional well-being can be independent of physical health. Perhaps this is the exception? Or a goal? If we are blessed to age, we have changes in our body, markers of our life, such as arthritis in the fingers, bellies that sag, and wrinkles. These are normal. For example, corrosive thinking wears down the body, which aligns with basic histology that shows cells can take decades to change their form. The cells are eventually worn down. They function differently for a while, then change shape and become functionally different. Specific example: type two diabetes doesn't come out of nowhere; the body is attempting to cope for a long time before it can no longer work its insulin magic. Change means that time is a key factor. My limited understanding of physics suggests that the answer will eventually come from there. Give it another 50 years. There is some very cool information on simultaneous time (time appears to flow forwards and backwards) as well as quantum entanglement. We are peeking at a problem in another room through a little keyhole! In my practice, I have seen how the WHOLE self changes its function and sickness manifests in one form, most visibly in the body. However, with an ill body, the mind and spirit are damaged in a linked timeframe. We have so much more to learn. In my next post I talk about this with concrete examples.
My world changed
Digging into the details
I have used this term ‘balance’ quite a lot in my blogs, but the meaning may at times be elusive to its actual function in our bodies.
All stories are part of one big story. And there are a range of story tellers.
Hello my friends! A little update to let you know how my project is progressing. I now have a sight on when I will finish getting the last 10% of my "scribbles" into confluence. 10th of September! thats the plan ! keep me accountable, ok? I have hit a few snags in this last bit. Firstly when I started writing down my arms work several years ago, I muddled up the drawings of the arms. It turns out if you don't draw enough land marks it is quite easy to mix the orientation of the arms.. don't ask, its a painful, irritating mistake. The result is I will need to remap the arms again. As well as being almost finished with digitising, I would say I am close to having mapped the body "completely" the first time around. Perhaps 80-90% ? ( hmmm maybe that estimate is a bit high..) As I have said earlier I expect to need to travel to other communities to complete the work fully, as well as needing about 10-20 years to finish it to a satisfactory level. What do I mean by that? Each Body point is its own story and journey within it and will need many, many datapoints over time to round it out and make it complete. Time is the only remedy for that one! I've decided to have an open day on the 10th of September (2023) if you are local and can pop in, I would love to see you. I am planning to have all my work out, with Tracy's gorgeous illustrations to be seen! I have a few hundred pages by the way! I plan to show everyone a little of how it works on the day. If you are curious, this is the day for you! xx Mary-Anne
I thought I was going mad. I have been feeling like an old typewriter... following a trail of ideas and attempting to go back to the beginning... over and over again. Do you remember the typewriters that have the lever so you can use "return" and start the next row? But rows flow? "ting!" My madness was in thinking that the way I have been creating was "wonky" or "wrong". The weird idea was that I was supposed to follow one path of ideas to completion and then start the next idea. WRONG! Instead I have been working on multiple threads of projects all at once… like a mad busy lady. I realise now, if I followed that way, I would lose so many leads of information and lose an immense amount of time (I'm guessing years, people!). Sigh. Relief. I am what I am. Those of you that know me well would be fully aware that I am a sensitive creature that tends to not care and also fret - all at the same time. I feel a sense of relief that this way of working, my way, is indeed perfect for my job. At the moment I am attempting to create a cohesive picture of the Chest. It involves about 11 paired lung points, the 6 heart points, an undetermined number of intercostal points, possibly 9 paired breast points, as well as the rib margin points. Also, did I mention the points around the collarbone? Many of these are very close to each other and may overlap. What makes it extra tricky is that mapping and recording one point this morning resulted in me working on a left foot point, in an entirely different system (wait what.. another system? Yes, I am creating 3 different systems at once… that info can just remain hidden for a few more years). Chest, breast, foot, now… where was I? So now you can see why I feel like a typewriter... I must continually return my little brain to the beginning.... "ting!". But I also need to acknowledge the threads and links… and that is where more knowledge and insights may lie. My darling cousin R said years ago I was like a Rosella... noisy, colourful, messy and creative, and just to be myself. Slowly, slowly, I see that this insane, haphazard way of creating is just fine, thanks ! Thanks for listening! xx Mary-Anne
