This afternoon,
I sat in the waiting area while my friend finished a meeting. While I flicked
through a copy of Us Weekly, a man
approached the reception desk and asked one of the assistants if it was
possible for him to speak to someone in the accounting department. The
receptionist smiled politely and suggested he sit down while she went to check
if the employee he needed was available to talk to the customer. When she
returned a few minutes later, it was to apologize: the gentleman he wanted to
talk to was in a meeting. Could she have “Mr. Jones” call the customer later?
The man smiled
slightly, nodded and walked out of the office, probably disappointed but he
didn’t seem very surprised. He didn’t have an appointment; at this time of year
it would be very unlikely to squeeze in an impromptu meeting with an
accountant. Guess what? This kind of solicitation and rejection occurs many,
many times each day between the conscious and subconscious areas of the mind.
The “heavy” that
sends the conscious mind’s desired new beliefs or behaviors away is called the
Critical Area of the mind. This very small region of the mind is divided
equally between the Conscious Mind and Subconscious Mind. Its responsibility,
as it were, is to maintain the comfort (homeostasis) between these areas of the
mind.
As I have
explained in several previous blogs (Why
Being Comfortable Feels Uncomfortable, Intuition,
Because…That’s
What You Like), your behavior is dictated by the subconscious mental script
that is created very early in your life. This script is created by the multitude
of positive and negative message units that the SCM processes and interprets as
pain or pleasure during your early childhood. A positive experience, such as
your pet dog licking your face in greeting, is classified as “pleasure.” A
negative experience, such as burning your hand on a hot stove, would likely be
classified as pain. However, even a message unit that is initially perceived as
negative or “painful” can become recognized as “pleasure”, such as returning to
or remaining in an abusive relationship because it is familiar or comfortable.
Conversely, if
your dog bites (instead of licks) your face, or you decide to stand up to or
even leave an abusive partner, the Critical Area of the mind is likely to
reject the new message unit that the conscious mind is processing. Rejecting
this new information is the Critical Mind’s job: If the information is unfamiliar,
it is uncomfortable and therefore unwelcome: What do you mean, Fido bit me? He doesn’t bite! It was just a love nip.
Or, I can’t leave my partner; I have
nowhere to go! Since this information challenges the known subconscious
mental script, it is unlikely that you will accept this information and change
your behavior right away.
Now, let’s put
this model in the context of what the interaction I observed this afternoon when
someone asked to meet with “Mr. Jones.” The receptionist (Critical Area of the mind)
checked with the gentleman in question (processed the message unit) and
reported that Mr. Jones was busy. Since the client was also not an expected
appointment (unknown to the subconscious mind), she sent him away (rejected the
message unit). You might also recognize this process when you check the
Caller-I.D. application on your phone and decide whether to pick up the call or
let a message go to voice-mail.
For more information
about the role of the Critical Area of the mind, I invite you to read my blog
titled, Why
Are New Ideas Scary?
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® and to set up an
appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2016
