David Morris November 6, 2009 : Sense of Orientation

Date: November 6, 2009 2:00:03 PM GMT
To: "MP Seminar" <mp-seminar@concordia.ca>
Subject: Sense of Orientation

Our discussion of the level at the last meeting reminded me of some
results of mine (in my book the Sense of Space) that the level that lets
us orient to up/down and toward things has an emotional dimension to it.

We're now thinking about a level that (we could say) lets us orient to our
surround as presently engaging us, orienting our present, vs. engaging us
with our past or orienting us to things as past, or orienting us by the
past.

Likely that has an emotional dimension to. Being overcome by the past,
worried about it, etc. Or the classic Freudian example, of not being able
to see the book, etc., that is right there in front of you, and that you
are looking for, because it was a gift from so and so, with whom you've
had an upset--and yet you are precisely covering it up with paper whilst
searching for it, so that you can't see it. We're looking for that, and
the opposite, the thing that jumps out as reminding you of the past and
your future obligations.

Anyway, I am sending around a short paper that I gave at a conference for
therapists who work with orientation issues on a perceptual level, that
(if I remember rightly) opens up this point about emotion.