Sequences

When you sit down to eat at Jeannie's, big tuxedo kitty sits up on his haunches and paddles the air- like a kangaroo. Brenda called it "some sort of sequence." Begging, maybe, though kitty doesn't direct the pawing at you. He seems to do it involuntarily. It is as Brenda says- a neuronal sequence.

I thought of that today when I went shopping without my purse. I had to pick out carpet samples. Didn't think I would need my purse, which is temporarily not in my possession. But the nueronal sequence of shopping is all in place about four blocks from my turn into the shopping center. And something feels very amiss because the purse is not there. I find I had to rehearse the sequence many times in my mind to feel OK about doing it without the purse.

So what? How many of my actions are mindless nueronal sequences, of which I become aware only when some element in the sequence is amiss? And if these actions are automatic, instead of willed in the moment, how many could I change, if I only became aware of the cue/s that set off the sequence? Eating right after I come in the door. Taking a quick peek at the computer as I walk from one place to another in the house. Blogging instead of going to sleep.

Habits, conditioned responses, these are the building blocks of my daily life. How would my life be different if I brought more of these under conscious control? If I made my mind work for me instead of working for my mind.