In my previous blog, I asked my readers to consider the value in noticing one’s own inner world as a way to become more self-aware, to gain perspective and clarity about life and decisions you are making, and the power that you have to influence your inner world.
I invited you to gain awareness and knowledge around thoughts, feelings, sensations, and memories. I hope you found the research fascinating and clarifying as to why we can benefit from the process of noticing.
Now we will explore the power of noticing the images and beliefs that are a part of our inner world. As I did in my last blog, I recommend that you practice this process of noticing your own responses in terms of your thoughts, feelings, sensations, images, beliefs, and memories as you read this blog.
Let’s start by clarifying what is meant by an image. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an image is “a visual representation of something, a mental picture or impression of something.” They share the example of a woman who has a negative body image of herself. You might pause and think about your own body image throughout your lifetime: to whom did you compare yourself? Was it favorable or did it end up making you feel inadequate?
Creating that mental image involves using your imagination – when we imagine something, we are creating an image. These images can impact our thoughts, feelings, sensations, beliefs, and memories. Often these images happen very spontaneously, and sometimes we are not even aware that they are influencing us unless we pause to notice them.
A conclusion: images can be very powerful in influencing how we feel about ourselves.
Now let’s consider the nature of beliefs. Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that, “a belief is something that is accepted, considered to be true, or held as an opinion.” Beliefs are closely associated with our values, those things we consider important. We all form beliefs about virtually every aspect of our lives from birth on.
Pause and notice any images or beliefs that popped up for you. Consider how they have influenced your thinking and your behaviors. How do they affect your feelings and sensations? When memories come up, we can examine them in light of images and beliefs.
All of this is intended to help you know yourself better. You can decide the degrees to which you like yourself or feel troubled about who you are. If you do feel troubled, these new awarenesses provide an opportunity for you to decide how you might want to change some of your attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.
To see a powerful representation of noticing your inner world, I highly recommend that you watch the movie Inside Out 2 (I also highly recommend that you see the first Inside Out that offers a framework for the second movie). This animated movie shows a very creative representation of a young girl, Riley, and her inner world where various emotions guide her in life. In the first movie the audience is introduced to the emotions of Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear. In the second movie, Riley has now hit puberty and several more characters become part of her inner world: Envy, Boredom, and Embarrassment. Brief mention is made of the characters Dark Secrets and Nostalgia. It is my hope that this visualization of an inner world inspires you to appreciate more about your own inner world.
Something you can do with your observations of your own inner world is to journal what you notice. You can use the categories of thoughts, feelings, sensations, images, beliefs, and memories. You can also add to that list other things you might want to notice, like the apparent facts of a situation, expectations, who seems to be motivated to do what, and who has what responsibilities and/or issues. By keeping a kind of a log or diary of your experiences around noticing, you can gain even greater clarity and maybe even see some patterns, some of which you may like and some that you might want to change.
I hope you will embrace the power that noticing offers you. I see it as a kind of superpower.
Invitation for Reflection
- What conclusions have you made about this concept of noticing? Does it seem like a valuable tool to enhance your understanding of yourself? How might it specifically benefit you?
- Are there specific areas of noticing you find easy to do and areas that you struggle with?
- How often, in the course of a day, do you think you might engage in the practice of noticing? What can you do as a reminder for this?