thread clash
Jan. 26th, 2006 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cellioWhen praying (which usually means when at services), I've noticed that there's a background thread that runs in my brain. While the foreground task is reciting the words in the siddur, the background thread is analyzing the words (ok, only some of the words) based on what I've learned so far of grammar. Sometimes I notice something new (oh, that's how that verb is put together!). This is good; direct application aids learning.
But... is there a way to prevent that thread from grabbing focus? Its job, most of the time, is to note things to come back to later, but sometimes it distracts me when I ought not be distracted. Like, say, when I'm leading services. I don't want to surpress it; I just want it to behave.
(Please tell me that other people's brains work this way too? Pretty much any time I'm doing something vaguely "intellectual", there are at least two things going on in my brain, the main activity and the "meta" level that's noticing how I'm processing that main activity.)
But... is there a way to prevent that thread from grabbing focus? Its job, most of the time, is to note things to come back to later, but sometimes it distracts me when I ought not be distracted. Like, say, when I'm leading services. I don't want to surpress it; I just want it to behave.
(Please tell me that other people's brains work this way too? Pretty much any time I'm doing something vaguely "intellectual", there are at least two things going on in my brain, the main activity and the "meta" level that's noticing how I'm processing that main activity.)
Re: Close your eyes
Date: 2006-01-31 03:23 pm (UTC)That's a good point. I often do this with Sh'ma/v'ahavta, and have occasionally done it with parts of the t'filah (mostly avot and modim), but I haven't tried doing it for longer stretches.
This is when davening for myself, I mean. I'm almost always "on book" when leading, even when I have the passage memorized, because as the leader I have an extra obligation to get it right no matter what distractions might arise.
One idea just cropped up: Why don't you try to organize a learning סדר with some people and pick apart the meanings of the different prayers? That might help quench the brain in view of involving the heart more :)
That's a good idea. And I've been looking for a subject that I could plausibly teach as part of our adult-ed program (so I can get some experience doing that kind of teaching); leading a recurring study group on this subject would work well for me.