I was vacuuming in someone else's house the other day. Topics for blogs can arise in varied situations.
I groaned inwardly when I saw the cleaner. A famous bagless model. Not my favourite vacuum cleaner. But it had been many years since I'd used one, maybe it was better? It wasn't. I loathed every minute and had backache at the end of using it.
Around twenty years ago I had to buy a new vacuum cleaner. I was prepared to buy a good one and the revolutionary bagless model was new on the market. I went to a showroom and tried several types. My requirements were: an upright for a tall person, an easy to use crevice tool, easy disposal of contents and easy to unblock, if necessary.
I was more than ready to buy the bagless machine. "How do you get rid of the contents?", I asked. The answer was to remove the canister and empty the contents into the bin. Er, but that was messy, with dust flying about in the air. I looked at the crevice tool. Not impressed with extending tubes, handles etc: It seemed to me to be a question of style over substance. I bought one of the most simple to use on the market. Not cheap, but pretty much idiot proof. Perfect. And it has been.
Twenty years later and I find that things haven't changed. I know the bagless model has its admirers, but it's not for me. An awful machine.
It's similar for many machines. Lots of bells, whistles and knobs. I bet most readers have a washer, dryer, dishwasher or suchlike that has a dozen functions. How many get used? Not that many.
Complexity impresses. Complexity costs money. Complexity sells.
Complexity confuses. Complexity intimidates. Complexity breaks down.
A friend recently went into an Architectural practice and was surprised to find them using PCs. Most architects and graphic designers use Macs. One of the members of staff was an IT person. My friend said, "If there were Macs in here, you wouldn't have a job." The IT person answered, "I know, you're right."
Of course, we need experts and we need complexity. I wouldn't be tapping away on this incredible machine, if it weren't for a complex idea and people willing to understand how to work with it. Same with cars, planes, trains and most machinery I use.
I'm not sure there is anyone who on meeting me would call me stupid, but my brain has always had a problem with complexity. It's as if my brain won't process it. It used to concern me, but there's an upside. If I need to understand something that is confusing me, I remove the bits I don't understand.
One of the lessons I enjoyed at school was precis. We used to be given lengths of prose and had to cut it down by 30%, keeping the core truth intact. I can pare something down quickly. I can remove the gobbledygook and find the core truth.
So, what's all this got to do with emotional health?
(A great deal of 'mental health problems' are more honestly, emotional health problems.)
Take a simple truth, that is contained in the thinking of anyone I've ever seen with an emotional health problem. "I don't feel good enough". In fact, the truth will often be, "I didn't feel good enough when I was a child."
That's it. The bottom line. From there have been built the monoliths of of psychiatry and psychotherapy. Not to say, Big Pharma. Vast amounts of time, money, energy and people's lives have been lost in trying to feel 'good enough'. So often, it about their emotional age needing to catch up with their chronological age and medication can't do that.
Except the majority of people don't only want to feel good enough now, they really want their younger self to feel good enough.
And that's impossible. Just like Chasing Rainbows. There is delusion in the illusion.
Must be more complex than that? You don't believe me? Remember Hans Christian Anderson's 'The King's New Clothes'?
Oh yes, my vacuum cleaner is a Sebo.
©RitaLeaman2012
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