{"id":329,"date":"2011-09-22T13:39:11","date_gmt":"2011-09-22T21:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/?p=329"},"modified":"2012-08-09T14:10:14","modified_gmt":"2012-08-09T22:10:14","slug":"deffils-imps-of-the-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/?p=329","title":{"rendered":"Deffils (Imps of the Mind)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think that one of the most useful things we can do is to confront the little niggling voices in our minds that drag us into lower consciousness. There are many kinds of foolishness, and some of it feeds on ignorance, mainly. What I call \u201cdeffils\u201d (rather than devils) are little complexes that are often so subtle that they seem okay, or at least not that bad. What it occurred to me to playfully name as \u201cdeffils\u201d are not devils in that they don\u2019t seek definite evil or enjoy pain. They are closer to imps or gremlins or tempting spirits, names for imagined \u201cbeings\u201d who inhabit the mind. They are avoidable, and they have great power.\u00a0 But recognizing them for what they are allows the maturing \u201cchoosing self<\/a>\u201d to contain their influence.<\/p>\n

Deffil 1: I don\u2019t want to grow up, pay the dues of being grown up, have to put up with annoying realities. Why should I? Why can\u2019t I just enjoy myself, take it easy?\u00a0 What\u2019s the problem? I ask these simplistic, seductively plausible questions. I don\u2019t make pronouncement, but there is something oddly compelling about such questions. I mean, why shouldn\u2019t I ask? It\u2019s just an innocent question. You can\u2019t blame me for just asking. I can play this game in and out along with the other deffils.<\/p>\n

Deffil 2. I don\u2019t like it. My not liking it needs to be respected. I feed on the entitlement to be respected. Occasionally my not liking it speaks to a deep inconsistency between what is asked of me and what I want to give. Far more often I claim the same prerogatives of obsessive doubt about the most trivial of things. Too much this, not enough that. I don\u2019t accept what is happening.\u00a0 I thrive on blurring the already blurred boundaries between creative dissatisfaction and mere grumbling and complaining. I don\u2019t want any realistic confrontation about being a baby. My cleverness is that sometimes what I\u2019m complaining about has merit.<\/p>\n

Deffil 3. I don\u2019t feel like it. Feelings are paramount. In this psychological society, it takes advantage of the permissive sentiment. Occasionally it\u2019s more valid than not, and I\u2019ll get truly\u00a0 neurotic if I overload my system and generate neurotic or psychosomatic complexes. But often this whole gambit is subtle self-indulgence in lieu of actual issues that must be wrestled with.<\/p>\n

Deffil 4. I use hi-falutin language in the service of my childish desires. I\u2019m rather clever about\u00a0 using words like enlightenment, pure, transcending, love, peace, and other forms of psycho-spiritual jargon to justify my getting what I want and getting away from what I don\u2019t want.<\/p>\n

Deffil 5. Cynicism, it won\u2019t work, never mind, why try, just give up, they\u2019re all fools anyway, or they\u2019re all corrupt. It\u2019s too much, just leave it alone, any excuse to justify my being a slacker and to avoid taking any responsibility. As with most of the other deffils, there is often a germ of truth to these complaints and excuses\u2014and that\u2019s all it takes for me to blow it up into a full-fledged cop-out.<\/p>\n

So, that\u2019s for starters. I welcome your writing and suggesting others. Tell me your name and whether I may use these, comment on them, and acknowledge you for your help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think that one of the most useful things we can do is to confront the little niggling voices in our minds that drag us into lower consciousness. There are many kinds of foolishness, and some of it feeds on ignorance, mainly. What I call \u201cdeffils\u201d (rather than devils) are little complexes that are often […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,11,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-follies","category-literacy","category-wisdom-ing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":602,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329\/revisions\/602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}