An Itinerant Mind

Further reflections

Just a little while ago, whilst listening to Dylan's melody,
I had it, or at least it's beginning.
A conversation, I seem to write a lot of those,
that's what comes of talking to myself, though sometimes
I'm a repetitive so and so, and I bore myself, having heard it all before
probably a few thousand times I should imagine.
But this time it sounded grand in my head,
and I went over it a few times as I worked, trying different phrases,
enjoying the interplay of my two inner voices as they bickered.
"You admire my integrity." said one.
"I admire your self delusion." Came the withering reply.

I wonder.
I wonder if I were to write down those words that oft times reverberate in my mind,
whether I could leave them cold and exposed, to shrivel and die?
I've done something similar with bad memories, the sort that years later could make me
wince with embarrassment over something long forgotten, except by me.
Telling a friend and explaining that though the event was perhaps minor in his eyes
it still held power over me, dispelled that power.
Laid the memory to rest, never since to torment me.
If I shared my inner ramblings, would that have the same effect?
Is that I wonder, what confession is all about? Laying ghosts to rest?
Flushing out the inner toxins, and creating tranquillity.
Or if you have no confidence in religion, then a visit to a psychologist
might serve a similar purpose. I tried that once, it wasn't remotely successful,
though I was more open then than with a priest, probably because I cared less
about what the psychologist would think of me.
Can one confess to oneself?
Self reflective, or is it introspective?
Stirring the muddy waters, and weathering the long dark night of the soul.
It sounds rather romantic doesn't it?
'Tisn't!
Oh I've gathered scraps, some insights, made modifications.
But.
It is an iterative process, as I've stated elsewhere before.
Repeated, periodically. It would be nice to think in some ongoing ascent.
But.
More often than not it is a case of three steps forwards and two to four steps back.
It is hard work to be mindful.
Harder still nowadays, with all the fun distractions available.
Where will it end? When will it end?
It doesn't. It won't.
"And isn't life a terrible thing
Thank God."