Reverse Thinking

12 steps to emotional depth

This says it all really....and it's a neat adaptation of the 12 Steps of Alcoholic's Anonymous to the development of Emotional Health.

Just click on the image to make the text larger.

Image by pshutterbug

Emotional intelligence

This is the latest in the series about Effective Thinking Skills. This time around I want to talk about the right way to think about emotions. To do that we need to understand:

                Image by By Anders Ljungberg.

1. What emotions are and what they are for

2. The difference between emotions and mind-states

3. Why awareness is vital

4. When we can expect to experience emotions

5. When it is ok not to have emotions

6. The best way to speak up about emotions

This post discusses your answers to questions 2, 4, 8, 12, 14 and 22 in The Effective Thinking Skills Test.
                                                                           

1. What emotions are for

I have already written about this in last month's blog - What Emotions Can Do For You. Briefly, an emotion is a Bodymind comment on the situation we are in. It tells us what sort of situation it is (e.g. threatening, confusing, rewarding, etc). Emotions also predict what will happen if we don't take action and guide us towards the correct actions to take (e.g. connecting to other people, asserting one's rights, fixing problems, having fun, etc.).

2. The difference between emotions and mind-states

States like anxiety, depression and resentment - and relaxed, calm or serene moods - are not emotions. They are states of mind. For example, anxiety builds up as Headmind indulges in worry, depressing emotions and blocking action.  The sensations of agitation and panic arise because the body is reacting to negative thinking by pressing 'the alarm button' on the sympathetic nervous system. Bodymind urgently needs us to spring into action on the problem (which includes talking to people) but poor thinking skills mean we go over the problem again and again, rather than switching attention to the likely solutions.

The core problem is that in negative states like these, Headmind is not exercising awareness. It is not grounded in the now, in the present moment, or focusing what emotions are telling us about the right thing to do.

3. Why Awareness is important

Positive states such as Mindfulness occur when we bring our attention back to the present moment, reconnecting to the body, owning our emotions, and exercising spontaneity. We do this just by exercising awareness. We can achieve that through meditation, yoga, breathing techniques, Tai Chi, Qi Gung and in numerous other ways. In Reverse Therapy we most often use sensate focusing and breathing techniques as tools.

Practicing these techniques filters out the Headmind yada-yada-yada that pollutes awareness. And doing that enables us to move with the flow of experience as circumstances change, and our feelings dictate. There is some excellent, practical, advice on how to improve mind-states and develop Awareness on the Simple Dollar blog.

4. When we can expect to have emotions

With two exceptions, an emotional release is triggered whenever an unexpected change takes place. For example, your child is late home, your partner betrays you, or you lose someone close to you. Your body triggers fear, anger and sadness respectively. The two exceptions are boredom and frustration. Those two emotions tell you have been stuck in the same monotonous situation for too long and its time to go and do something more rewarding.

Now life is so arranged that we will frequently get sad. We lose friends, parents, grandparents and, sometimes, our children. We leave our jobs, our homes, and our partners. And when we get very sad we cry. Now some studies have shown that tears are essential for health. They wash away toxins produced by stress and they also release the hormone, prolactin, which has a calming effect.

So there is something wrong with people who never cry. My observations of clients who tell me this is that they have been conditioned into believing that tears are 'unmanly', 'self-indulgent', or 'childish'. They just don't have permission to be sad and they are unable to use effective thinking skills to resolve it.

5. It's ok not to have emotions when we don't actually have any

Bodymind creates emotions like fear, anger and sadness when it wants to alert you to an unexpected change, help you understand the situation you are in, motivate you to do something, and guide you towards the appropriate action.  When your body doesn't have any concerns about you then you won't have  any emotions.

Now, the most common myth about grief in that it is a process we have to go through. And that it takes a long time and that we have to do it in stages. This is just not true.

Sadness is not the same as grief. The first one is an emotion, the second one is a state of mind. When we go through a bereavement Bodymind will trigger sadness so that we know we need to take time out for ourselves and adjust to our loss, talk about what we are going through, honor the memory of the person who had passed on, and (most importantly) bond closer to our friends, partners and families, so that they can give us the support we need. The reason we have funeral ceremonies is so that all of these goals can be achieved.

Grief comes up when we have unfinished business with the dead person. That could be resentment, remorse, lost opportunities, guilt, injustice, regrets or a whole lot of other things. Or we were dependent on that person in some way and think we cannot cope on our own. If that is so then Headmind is unable to let go of the dead person and ceaselessly analyses the relationship that we once had. The unresolved wishes, the incomplete emotions, or the refusal to regain our independence, create the experience of grief.

Now, if we don't have any unfinished business we will feel sad but we won't need to grieve. This was illustrated for me by a story a client told me in Reverse Therapy last week.

She told me that when her Father some time before, it took her years to get over it. He had been a cold, bullying man who constantly belittled her. The state of mind she carried around with her was filled with things like rage, guilt, love, confusion, resentment and self-blame. She only emerged from her grief when she learned to forgive and move on.

But when her Mother died last year she experienced no grief at all. She cried - copiously - for a few days and then let it go. She and her Mother had been very close, very loving, and very honest with each other. She had already forgiven her Mother for the mistakes she had made as a parent. Besides, her Mother had been 93 and had been ill, and lonely, for a long time in an old people's home.

Her sister (who was badly effected by grief) and her aunt (also in the same position) told her that she must be 'heartless', 'sick', and 'abnormal' and should see a therapist! Fortunately, I was able to reassure her Headmind and she is now busy working on her new life.

That is all I have time for today. Tomorrow, I will add to this blog and write about how to be braver in speaking up about your emotions.

The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is a mesmerising movie. When I first watched it at 8 years old I couldn't sleep for a week thinking about The Wicked Witch of the West. It also works as an allegory for older children like you.

If you've forgotten the story there is a good review here by Jessica over on MatchFlick.

The Wizard of Oz could also be one of the most profound movies ever created - as I realised when I was researching it for another blog I am writing on emotions (I will be publishing that tomorrow).

Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man on the Yellow Brick Road and they join her on a journey of self-discovery.

The Scarecrow decides to go with Dorothy because he thinks the Wizard will give him a brain                                                                                    
The Cowardly Lion comes along because he is fighting for courage.

The Tin Man joins them because he feels the Wizard can find him the heart he so much desires.

When they finally meet the Wizard they learn that he is a fraud, that he can't do magic, and can't give them what they came for. Instead, all they get is opinions. But, in fact, what the Wizard tells them turns out to be more magical and life-changing than any tricks could have been.

All he does is point out some simple truths:

The Scarecrow says he can't think straight but it was he who came up with a plan for rescuing Dorothy from the Witch. He receives a Diploma in Thinkology.

The Cowardly Lion says he doesn't have courage but he single-handedly fought off the Witch and her evil monkeys. He gets a medal for bravery.

The Tim Man says he doesn't have emotions but he has exercised tenderness, kindness and concern towards his friends all the way along the Yellow Brick Road. He is given a heart-shaped watch to wear on his chest.

Here's what I get about this:

1. People who see themselves as failures are often confused by words. The Lion thinks he is a coward and doesn't notice his bravery in action because he is looking for an abstraction. That's rather like people who say they have never found 'Happiness' and fail to notice the small, daily, encounters  that bring them pleasure. Or people who believe they are 'stupid' - but don't notice their skills in solving practical problems, making friends, or helping their children. Their false belief is created because they are using vague generalities instead of concrete terms based on experience.

2. We need feedback, validation and encouragement from others so that we can identify our achievements (I have found that this is one of the most important things to do when you are bringing up children).

3. We don't acquire wisdom, courage or love - or qualities like confidence, optimism and joy - by waiting around for God to give them to us. We get them through trial and error - and by repeatedly putting ourselves through situations that force us to develop those particular skills.

"And remember, my sentimental friend, that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others."

            The Wizard of Oz to the Tin Man

     

 

Letting your personal genius loose

In my last post - Losing your personality - I briefly mentioned that developing your genius can free you from the ego. This item explores what that personal genius is.

This blog is a little theoretical but the idea is too important for me to not to try and explain it.

When you understand how personal genius works you will be in a better position to develop it.

                                              Image by axinar.

The word Genius is a translation of the Greek Daimon. In Homer a daimon is either a god or a spirit. Later on, the 'daimon' came to mean a person's guiding spirit, or guardian angel. Some people found this idea a little disturbing and, for them, daimons became 'demons' -something to be repressed and avoided.

The Romans understood daimons as Genii, from which we get both the words 'genie' and 'genius'. A Genie is your personal guide, whom you can contact through prayer, trance-states, visions, and dreams although most of us experience it as an inner voice, intuition or compulsion.

A Genius is the unique spirit which lives in every living thing. So the Romans worshiped the genius of the river, the genius of the tree, the genius of the family, the genius of the Emperor, and so on. Sacrificing to a genius was a way of harnessing its power.

For the Romans, each and every god had her own, unique, genius and that was how they could tell them apart. Jupiter's daimon was majestic, Apollo's was frightening, Venus's was sexy, and so on. The picture in this blog shows the Genius of Water - hence the outflowing arms.

Now, each of us human beings have our own, unique, genius - a kind of driving force which must fulfil its own destiny - forcing you you to become that which you are really meant to be. Ignoring your genius means not only denying the power within you but denying the core essence of who you really are. And, if you do that for too long you will eventually become ill.

Here are some common expressions of Genius:

• Teaching
• Making things work (e.g. engineering, mechanics, craftsmanship)
• Nurturing people
• Connecting to animals (pets, wildlife, endangered species, etc)
• Art
• Science
• Mathematics
• Caring for children
• Spirituality
• Leadership
• Fighting injustice, discrimination, exploitation
• Cultivating nature
• Building
• Discovering new 'truths'
• Healing others

Your daimon, or your genius, is also expressed through your genetic code (unique to you unless you have an identical twin), your emotions, your intuitions and your passions. If you regularly practice attunement to Bodymind then you will become more expert at eliciting all of these.

Some questions that can guide you

If you want find out more about your genius then here are some questions that can also help. I will supply my personal answers to the questions to help you see what I am getting at.

1. What teachers and mentors were you drawn to when you were young? These will tell you a lot about what you are here to learn.

My answer: My first mentor (age 12) was my Uncle. He gave me a thirst for education and awoke in me a desire to serve others. He also challenged me to think for myself.

2. What are you most love doing or what are you most fascinated by? What are the most interesting activities you have ever done? This will give you a clue about your (divine) passion.

My answer: Working with and exploring the hidden depth in people. Finding out how human beings work in terms of their biology, culture, emotions, society, personal history and desires.

3. What do you most detest in life? This shows you what you are here to fight and what you need to overcome in yourself.

My answer: Lies, lack of integrity, smugness and complacency.

4. What are your most rewarding moments in life? This will tell you something about your personal mission.

My answer: The birth of my children, becoming a therapist, writing (some of) my books, moments of deep connection with other human beings, discovering Reverse Therapy, and two mystical experiences in which I glimpsed an egoless state of being.

5. What drains your energy? This shows you what your daimon most needs you to avoid.

My answer: Routine, small talk, academics, television, newspapers, humorlessness, stale ideas.

6. How, and in what way, are you most creative? This, along with question 7, could be the most important questions here. Answering them truthfully reveals a lot about your personal genius.

My answer: Writing, bringing together new ideas, using my intuition to work out what is really going on with my clients, educating people, and inspiring large audiences. Blog writing.

7. What characteristics are either unique to you or which you rarely see in others? This tells you a lot about the 'character' of your daimon.

My answer: My sense of mischief, the clarity of my thoughts, my constant need to pull things down and start again.

8. What do you find it hardest to do? Answering this shows what you have to practice doing, in order to free up your genius.

My answer: Forgiving people who have hurt me. Taking time off to play, dream, and have fun.

I would be fascinated to discover what my readers have got from this blog, or what they have already discovered about their personal genius. Please do email me or leave a comment about that.

"Our daimon is both our character and our destiny".

Heraclitus (6th Century BC).

"Happiness means the full expression of your daimon. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence".

Aristotle (4th Century BC)

Losing your personality

I wrote last Saturday in Reverse Personality about why you don't need a personality. Today's blog is about how to lose it if you still have one.

Image by kevindooley

For the most part, what you and others see as your 'personality' relates largely to the way you present yourself and the feedback you get. So, if I go around without washing the response I get will generally be disgust. In that way I will become 'a disgusting person' although I can easily change that by using some hygiene.

The way you project yourself on to others is also related to your confidence in your own abilities. If you regularly practice speaking to strangers you will gain confidence in your conversational skills. You will therefore be less likely to be labelled as having a 'shy' personality and more likely to be labelled as an 'extrovert'.

Here are some tried and tested ways of changing the way you present to others (meaning I have tested them myself and found that they work).

1. Change your job.

The most dramatic example of this was when I gave up my banking career in 1990 and became a therapist. Almost overnight I changed from being a de-pressed, suit-wearing, routine-bound wanker-banker to a guy that wore yellow trousers!

2. Do something that is 'just not like you'.

I wrote something about this on my last blog Reverse Personality. This is about dropping habitual ways of being and experimenting with the opposite set of behaviors. So if you 'never dance' then do just that. If you are 'impatient', slow down. If you find it hard to show love to others then practice.

3. Give up your parents.

To some extent your parents establish and reconfirm your false personality. If they thought you were the 'sporty' type, or 'the reliable one', or 'the family show-off' then chances are that that is what you became. When I left home at 19 I quickly realised that the way my parents often saw me had become, in some ways, a self-imposed limitation. The same applies to the perceptions you accept from your partners, your friends, and your children. There's a great Bette Davis movie about this called Now Voyager, in which she transforms from a mother-dominated, neurotic frump to a sex siren!

4. Learn a new language.

Because each language carries a different way of thinking (based on the words and grammar unique to that language), the use of the mouth and vocal chords, and the expressions that go with it, this is one of the fastest ways to change that I know. Works still better if you live and work there. I discovered this even when I moved to New York for six months a while ago. Although the words were similar - the differences in grammar, intonation and meaning were very powerful.

5. Change the way you dress

That includes the way you dress when you are by yourself and the way you dress outdoors. Remember, what you see in the mirror subtly changes the way you project yourself to others.

6. Acquire new skills

The list could run from assertiveness training through to art, car mechanics, poetry, cooking, meditation, or sexual techniques. Different skills entail different behaviors....which lead to new experiences and new kinds of feedback from others. They will also raise your so-called 'self-esteem' - which is just another way of describing the way you present to others.

7. Develop your personal 'genius'

This has to do with making the most of your innate character - the tastes, skills, talents - and the  individual mission you were born with. When you become what you were truly meant to be, it radiates through your eyes. But I will write more about this 'genius' in my next blog.

8. Have a nervous breakdown

This solution is a little drastic but it could be the most effective of the lot if you can stand the temporary disorientation.

All that is really meant by having a nervous breakdown is that you have lost your ego - the scripted, routine personality you have over-identified with. It typically happens when your deepest feelings  and desires are completely out of sync with the life others expect you to live, so that you end up de-pressing who you really are. The resulting crisis leads to an uprush of powerful emotions which sweep away the false self and enable you to be born anew.

(By the way. you don't have to have a breakdown to be reborn. Practicing new ways of being each and every day will remove the necessity for that, unless you are the religious type).
 

Reverse personality

This is the second in the series I am writing around the Effective Thinking Skills test.

Image by tigerzeye

Today I am writing about the second group of thinking fallacies which are tested by questions: Nos 1, 10, and 13. This is the illusion that we have fixed personalities. The associated delusion is that who we are now is created by our genes, our parents, or our childhood experiences. And that we cannot change that.

Most human beings are too complex to have a fixed personality.  We are creatures with a vast library of personal experiences, desires, talents, gifts, dreams, hopes, emotions, thoughts, strengths and weaknesses. You can't pin a real human being down with labels.

What most people call 'personality' is usually a small sub-set of attitudes which you tend to use in very specific situations. They are the front you put on, not who you are.

So I can be introverted - quiet, reflective, withdrawn - when I am writing this blog. And extroverted - outgoing, people-focused and excitable - when I am talking to an audience of 200 people about Reverse Therapy. So long as I don't go around thinking that I have to be one or the other, I can do both.

Personality tests are not only inaccurate but inhuman. They seduce us into believing that we are always going to be the same person. Ken Lyen has a great blog on this very point. He argues that Personality tests work through typecasting - as when an actor plays the same role too often and becomes identified with it. So we adopt the personality the test says we are.

Most of us wonder who we 'really' are and tend to accept the first plausible description that comes along. So I am a Leo, a Monkey and a Number 11 in numerology. But, even if accurate, these portraits only show one side of who I could be. There are thousands more 'John Eatons' I haven't even begun to explore yet.

20 years ago I was sent on a very expensive management training course (this was when I still worked in banking, before I regained my sanity). We were tested, interviewed, given role-plays to perform and then video-taped, analysed, and typecast.

Now one test - the Myers Briggs Inventory - caricatured me as an 'ISTJ' (Introvert, Sensor, Thinker, Judger). So, to make things interesting I spent all 4 days on that course doing the opposite of what was predicted of me - in other words, behaving like an ENFP - Extrovert, Intuitive, Feeler, Perceiver. I stood in the centre of the room and told weak jokes in a loud voice, talked vaguely about 'the big picture', shared with anyone who would listen my feelings about my new-born daughter, and never, ever tried to be on time or make decisions. I became someone I never knew I could be.

The expression on the face of the Psychologist who had to debrief me at the end was interesting. He looked like he was about to give birth to a calf. In fact, one of the first things he asked was whether I had ever had psychiatric treatment. On the grounds that if psychologists can't predict your behaviour then you must be crazy.

Those 4 days were tough because I had to do the reverse of everything I did by habit. I had a headache most days. But very liberating too. And I have never taken personality tests seriously since.

Until.....today. I did some research for all you readers out there and found a free Myers Briggs Test you can use. And, just to test it, I took it myself. And - guess what? My personality (as of yesterday) was...
ENFP!

Here's that test. But don't forget to practice doing the opposite of what it tells you that you are when you get the results.

Monday, I will write more about how you, too, can do just that.

 

Personal power and motivation

 A while ago, I wrote a blog about the fact that my son, Dominic, was failing at school and the comment from one of his teachers that he wasn't 'motivated' to do his exams.

                                                 Image by cheekyneedle

Here is what I wrote:

'Motivation doesn't exist inside the person. It is a reason for doing something that comes with the activity. I don't yet know what needs to happen for my son to work harder at his exams - or even if he wants to. But if he finds a motivationless way out I'll post it here.'

The Reverse Thinking point was that 'motivation' is a meaningless word. All it really means is that we don't have a reason for doing something. That we can't connect up our emotions to that particular activity. And Dom could never seem to find a convincing reason to do his school work.

But Eureka! We found something! Dominic spends hours in our garage on his mixing desk playing around with drum & bass tracks. He also learnt guitar for years. So last week I took him to the Basingstoke College and they accepted him on the Diploma course in Music Technology. Instead of doing A Levels he is going to do something he is really good at, and which he likes to do. Result: one happy 16-year old who is really excited about College and is working hard to get the GCSE results he needs to be able to follow his passion.

Nice for me to know that Reverse Thinking and Reverse Therapy can work for my son as well as my clients....

Reclaiming your personal power

In my last blog I wrote about the Effective Thinking Test. Focusing specifically on the questions which tested you for your ability to exercise your Personal Power.

If you could do with some more oomph than you have now then here are some ideas on how to to about getting it.

Stop procrastinating

Work on developing your personal power starts today. That's right - today. Even if you are reading this late at night do ONE thing I am asking you to do before you go to bed. Then follow that up by doing one new action every day. Don't let up - ever.   

Distinguish between situations and experiences you can't change and the behaviours that you can

You can't change other people, the rules of the system, or bad things that have happened to you in the past. You may have very limited influence over your partner, your family, your job or your college. So don't waste time thinking about it. Instead focus on changing the things you do.

Don't waste time trying to change the way you think

As I have before written, there is very little evidence that Cognitive Therapy works. Changing your beliefs makes no difference to what you do. It is effort, action and persistence that makes a difference. Oh - and affirmations don't work either. Telling yourself ten times a day that you are a wonderful person when there is little real evidence for that is a waste of time.

Start with taking the smaller risks first and then work up

If you have spent a long time denying, or giving away your personal power to others, your confidence may be low. Increase it by taking on the small risks initially. For example, practice speaking up to people close to you first, before taking on your real enemies. Or rewrite your CV and start looking for that new position now.

Break some habits

This is one of the easier ones to do and it is amazingly easy to free up your energy by breaking up trivial habits. That could include changing the way you dress, giving up smoking (yes - that IS easy to do!), or going back to the gym.

Develop your passion and build mastery

You are a person of unique gifts, talents, insight and creativity. It doesn't matter at all whether you are another Sherlock Holmes, a Saint, a people-person, or someone who has a fascination with a particular hobby. You have work to do that no one else can do. Get going on it now.

Effective Thinking

The Effective Thinking Test

Apologies to those of you who tried to download the Effective Thinking Skills Test in Windows this week and got gobbledygook. The link has now been changed and you can now do the test here.

This is the first of a series of blogs by way of commentary on the skills tested. You can use the series to clarify why some of your answers are 'right' and some 'wrong'. But I recommend that you do the test first before reading ahead.

What the test shows up are some common errors of thought. If left uncorrected they will create worry, depression, anxiety and obsession. Wrong work of Headmind leads to an illusionary state in which we are stuck in an awful past, imagining a still more disastrous future. But the most negative outcome for ineffective thinking is that it stifles change. That means you could be a slave to convention, living in a rut, or stagnating because nothing changes in your life. The result is unhappiness and that you end your life being a lot less than you might have been.

Please be aware that the test is not definitive and some results may be ambiguous. Even if you took a low score this does not make you 'stupid'. 'ineffective', or 'a failure'. Please don't let Headmind use your test results as an excuse for you to remain a victim!

The difference between Effective and Ineffective Thinking.

Effective Thinking is action-focused, problem-solving, solution-focused, realistic, and grounded in possibility rather than worry. It is also open to change, and willing to be guided by the emotions in making decisions. It also connects you to your passion and opens you up to the exercise of your power, your talents and your personal truth.

Ineffective Thinking is neurotic. It is stuck in the past, apprehensive about the future, avoids taking risks, is dependent on others, and is caught in an endless cycle of self-created anxiety and worry. It is frightened of emotion and personal independence. It sees individuality, passion and originality as 'weird'.

As I have elsewhere commented, Headmind is created by conditioning - typically by modelling other people's  thinking patterns. That can easily be unlearnt.

Giving away your Personal Power

Let's look at one common pattern that we tested with questions 1, 3, 7, 10, 13, 18, and 23.

This problem has to do with denying personal power. Wrong work of Headmind results in the belief that some people are born losers. That they are victims of the past and need other people to help them through life. People with this mind-set are envious of other people who seem to be luckier, more powerful, and more knowledgeable, happier and more successful than themselves. Such people tend to avoid making decisions or trying something new, and tend to give up too easily when they hit set-backs.

In this position Headmind keeps people trapped by re-running scripts that limit attention to why people can't do something, rather than how they can.

If you gave some wrong answers to those questions then join me back here on Monday, when I talk about Taking Your Personal Power Back.

Why is Sherlock Holmes a Cocaine Junky?

We learn about Holmes' use of drugs in the very first story - A Study in Scarlet. Dr Watson comments:

" . . . for days on end he would lie upon the sofa in the sitting-room, hardly uttering a word or moving a muscle from morning to night. On these occasions I have noticed such a dreamy, vacant expression in his eyes, that I might have suspected him of being addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion."

The Sign of Four opens with another disturbing scene:

'Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel-piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case.   With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks.  Finally he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction.'

When Watson asks what he is taking Holmes replies:

"It is cocaine," he said, "a seven-per-cent solution.  Would you care to try it?"

It later on emerges that Holmes uses cocaine because he is bored. When he has no cases to solve, when there is 'nothing of interest' in the newspapers, and when 'the monotony of existence' preys on him he reaches for the syringe. He has no lovers, no friends and no real interests other than detective work. But there is more. He lives only for the intellect and has no connection with his own emotions. In fact he seems to have had a mild form of Attention Deficit Disorder - his mind '...like a racing engine tearing itself to pieces because it is not connected up...', his energy moving from extremes of lethargy to extremes of hyperactivity.

As everyone knows, Sherlock Holmes is meant to be a genius, who claims to solve cases through 'scientific' investigation and deductive logic. In fact, most of his cases are solved through intuition, imagination and by empathising with the criminal mind.

It is because he denies the power of emotion and because he is stuck in his head that Sherlock Holmes becomes a junky. When you have no outlet for your passion, Bodymind sends up the boredom signal to tell you to go and get a life. And one thing I have noticed about junkies is that they don't do boredom very well.

Isn't it time we stopped using characters like Sherlock Holmes, Einstein and Freud as role models, and over-developing the intellect in our children? What do you think?