Saturday, June 10, 2023

 Saturday, June 10, 2023

It was a day of catching up on difficult events in my updates. I was so stressed by changes in my world that I couldn't concentrate. At some point, I can share what those changes were about. I can't at this point because I would be saying something negative about others, expressing my frustration. But things look like they're shifting. Communication is starting to happen. We may finally clear up years of misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

I had Adolescent D at two-thirty, making up for our missed session yesterday. No, he did not work independently on the driver's test. Why? He didn't know. He surrendered to the will of his unconscious mind. What a disaster!  

We completed six items on the test in half an hour. When D misread words, I started saying the letters on the page and the letters of the words he said. He read skidding as skipping. 

  S-k-i-d is spelled with a final d the word skip is spelled s-k-i-p. While D may have misread the p as a d, it is more likely he chose a word he already knew. D didn't know the meaning of the word skid. I had to look it up to ensure I had the right nuance. To skid is to slide, primarily sideways. We got into a discussion on slip, skid, and slide. They have slightly different meanings in the dictionary, depending on the context. All those concrete images have to be categorized under a single definition. Which one?

D made a mistake and misapplied a phonics rule. I was thrilled. Misapplying information and making mistakes are part of the learning process. He remembered a phonics rule I had taught him, even if he had it wrong. Besides, it was an opportunity to reinforce a learning model where mistakes are part of the learning process. 

I got him to extend the lesson. I wanted to pursue his submission to his unconscious mind. It was only last week that I could speak to him directly about the different voices/wills in his head. We all have different wills. D is not alone in this dilemma. I had him dialogue between his conscious and unconscious minds. It took some work to get it out of him. I gave him a variety of possible responses to prime him. This is what he had to say.

Conscious: I don't appreciate you. Well, truth be told. I have mixed feelings about you. Part of me doesn't like you because you don't want to work on things I want to. Part of me does like you because you can do stuff without me thinking about it.

Unconscious mind: If you really wanted me to do something, you'd make me do it. 

This is a wonderful start. D's right, of course. We all want everything to be easy and to flow. The flow state is when our conscious minds are in sync with our unconscious minds, probably vibrating at the same rate while we do something concerning the outside world. We usually think of flow positively, but sadly, that's not always the case. It is the pursuit of it that often leads to pure evil as often as it leads to pure love. Oxytocin is produced when we celebrate with our tribe or kill others outside of our tribe. Both put us in an exalted state. Now to figure out how to help this boy take charge of his life.  

B called. He often calls in the evening to bid me good night. He lets me know he's in for the night and watching out for me. Not that he would even hear me if I needed help. He lives in a separate building several hundred feet away. Both our bedrooms are on the far side of those buildings. There's no chance he could hear me, but it feels good anyway.

I rented The Princess Bride last night. I remember loving it when I saw it in the theater a million years ago. I heard interviews with the cast and decided to watch it again. However, it is so violent and mean-spirited that I couldn't stand it. I found it upsetting. 

I heard the side door open, then B said, "It's me." He had a large container of comfort food, a delicious Philippine soup that someone had served at a party he had just attended.