Ok, I've been thinking a bit more about dealing with our conditioned JW thinking, and it seems to me you're not going to be that successful if you use other kinds of conditioning, or rather just more conditioning. But we do do that don't we? We get busy reading about how JW's don't have the truth instead about how they do, and talk about it with others, etc.
But as much as we immerse ourselves in the opposite information, all other things being equal, it will take us that much longer just to offset the years of conditioning in JW thinking. So it would only be reasonable to consider something that works on a deeper level to get over it in less time. After all, is there 5 apostates meetings a week?
It's a good thing that we're not just animals that work on conditioned behavior alone. If we stop and think about it, conditioning is a rather simplistic process isn't it? You might use language and information, but there's not much intelligence behind it, you just get used to repeating certain behavior or saying certain things. I think there's one of the key factors in a more effective way to get over this though, intelligence - and the other being what you might call clear perception.
Most of the time we have our filters on, and we just do not see some things, whether it's the outside world or our selves. (that we like to make this sharp division between ourselves and the world we're in is yet another filter) To solve any problem or skillfully work with any situation, it would only make sense to see all of it, as it is, rather than have a sort of tunnel vision. But of course the other part is intelligence - what do you actually do with it? This doesn't mean you have to be really smart, mind you, but just that you would ponder it a bit. (but not to rationalize things away) Often times the missing piece of the puzzle has been there, we've just never looked at it before.
So I think often, you may not have to do a lot. Obviously the specifics for each person will be different, but I think one thing we might look at is this personal or individual view of things. Instead of taking the usual subjective perspective of things, it may be helpful to step back and look at things as a whole, even if it is only with yourself. I think this is where journaling might be a useful tool, maybe some have already done or have been doing this. Not only can you record what you've been doing, where you've been or where your mind has been dwelling, it also stretches through time. Think of it as a long term study of one individual, and of course aside from the size the long duration of a scientific study also makes if very valuable. You can simply go back to read it each week, each month and maybe at the end of the year to see what's happend in that period of time. You might also carry one that's small enough to take wherever you go, and maybe compile it or just keep multiple volumes after you're through with one. Of course, this is by no means a new idea, and using a system of long term record keeping is itself an intelligent way of processing the stuff.
Now I'm not one that is big on sticking with something anally, (no pun intended) in fact I didn't think about journaling when I started this message. And in fact you could get addicted to some practice and then lost track of why you're doing it in the first place. But the nice thing about keeping things long term is that you can always go back to recall what you did between entries, you don't have to be really strict about doing it everyday or whatever. Even if you don't remember all of it, and the memory may be a bit distorted, that's just fine from the perspective of being aware of where your mind is, especially over a long period of time. So I am all for being spontaneous, so long as it is REAL spontaneity, and not just more conditioned behavior or something that doesn't have that creative edge to it. Hmm, it does sound like a good idea - I think I'll try it myself..
