(This blog was originally posted on July 14, 2014)
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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft |
Have
you ever seen something so often that it fades into the landscape—until you
notice it again? That just happened to me. I must admit this experience took me
by surprise, even though the mechanism behind it completely made sense.When
I was returning home from an errand this morning, I saw several large trucks
around the neighborhood testing fire hydrants. Since Southern California is in
the midst of a serious drought, it made sense that the city would want to
ensure that water was available to fight fires and test the equipment that
would do this. What surprised me was how many fire hydrants there were, and
where they were. I have driven down these streets for twenty years and I can’t
remember ever noticing, let alone seeing,
one of them!
However, the
presence of groups of people huddled around several fire hydrants in the
neighborhood, testing that the devices had and were capable of providing water
to fire hoses, was definitely unfamiliar (unknown) and deserved my notice. And,
yes: I was curious about, if not (yet) alarmed by, what I saw. Within a few
seconds, my conscious mind identified who these people probably were by their
uniforms and the presence of utility trucks bearing a city label. (The presence
of city workers checking over the neighborhood is also familiar, a known, in my
mind.) I was able to quickly figure out what they were doing. The critical area
of my mind accepted this information and sent it directly to my subconscious mind so I could
go about my day. Once again, an otherwise mundane-turned-unusual experience
perfectly illustrated the daily relevance of John
Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind.
But
where did all of those fire hydrants
come from when I wasn’t paying attention to them? And when did they show up,
anyway?
Of
course, this phenomenon makes perfect sense. Actively noticing and responding
to everything we perceive in our environment would completely overwhelm us; we
would all be in a state of hypnosis every waking moment. Instead, once we
determine that these objects or sensations are not jeopardizing our well-being
or survival, our bodies tune out those stimuli so we can be more alert to new
threats. Furthermore, unless something about the object suddenly changes—such
as its color, smell or behavior—our conscious mind barely registers that the
thing exists. After repeated exposure to that stimulus, it becomes a known in the subconscious mind:
comfortable and even “safe” in its familiarity. There is no reason for the critical
awareness part of our mind to reject this information and raise a metaphoric
red flag that something new and unknown is nearby.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified
hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors
from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense
Hypnotherapy®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
