17-Calming the zoo in your head Part 2: The Calm

Part 2: The Calm

Instead of pining over the embrace of a lost lover, imagine a new encounter. This is not exclusion and loss but expansion and gain. An open, human mind knows feelings such as closure, understanding, inspiration, and healing. Repeated use of this thick mirror provides the lower species with what they really want – a safe place to call home.

Trust me, they do not wish to return to the ruins but as long as they know nothing else, how can they be expected to act differently? When the primate falls silent, the zoo runs wild. Without its cerebral architecture, these simpletons don’t have the capacity to understand the complexities of endless cause and effect. When they are scared, they just want to go home. Mixing the rigor of left hemispheric order with the liberation of right hemispheric insight, the primate calms the zoo in your head.

The way to harmonize the evolutionary nature preserve is to take compassionate, consistent command. When my dog chews on a prohibited item, I disrupt him with the quick replacement of something suitable and leisurely praise him for engaging the appropriate substitution. On the human level, when I direct the monkey to enlist the mouse against the snake by revealing another, desirable target, I am solving my problem of internal conflict by fulfilling my desire for mammalian interest and satisfying my need for reptilian peace. Instead of making the Herculean-effort to completely disconnect from the overwhelming despair of loss, I make a simple attempt to momentarily connect with the joy of love. Do not run away, walk towards. In the Bible, Lot's wife turned to salt the moment she looked to her past instead continuing her future.

Connecting the insight of our primate to the feelings of our mammal about the reactions of our reptile allows us access to our whole self. When this process is interrupted, we are incomplete and frustrated. We are confused and angry. Anger imprisons the able ape, shuts down the cute mouse, and leaves only the venomous snake. Courageous reason, fearless memory, and sober imagination [the foundation of Cognitive therapy] balance these entities through cooperation and calm to the zoo in your head. By eternally hammering out plans that not only make sense but invite each animal's attention, your zoo will be worth visiting.