Even though I gave up the idea about becoming a psychologist a few years ago, and decided to take a slightly different path, the way us human beings react, think, act and behave fascinates me (and sometimes scares me).
I find the smallest things interesting. Yesterday it happened when I was sitting with a cup of tea in my hand. The tea was a certain kind of tea that I've been drinking a lot at work, because that was the tea available.
It hit me, when I was sitting there, with the cup of tea in my hand, that I actually felt like if I was at work. The flavor, the scent of the tea, and the fact that I had to use a small tea cup (which I never do, but now had to do to get some flavor out of this tea bag) totally made me feel like if I was at work. It was a strange feeling.
Then I started to examine the feeling a bit. And I realized that I could not drink the tea, could not finish what was left in the cup. All of the sudden it tasted horrible.
And it wasn't the fact that it reminded me of work. It was the fact that at work a cup of tea (most of the time this tea in particular) was something that symbolized a few moments on my on in the morning, a nice time in front of the TV or the computer before going to bed (yes, I did and was supposed to sleep at work) or a chat with my colleagues.
Without those things the tea tasted horrible. At home I'm used to drinking all different kinds of nice tea, and this nasty tasting tea did not fit in my sofa at home. Still, at work, because of what it symbolized I had enjoyed it a lot. Funny, right?
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2 comments:
It's kind of that Pavlov's dog kind of thing going on.
My wife gets the same way when we drive past a certain restaurant that made her feel sick when she was pregnant; she gets those same feelings.
What I need to do is find a way to feel like I'm on vacation, on the beach somewhere, when I'm sitting at work. If you figure that one out, let me know. :)
Well, Tom, if I figure that one out I will sell the idea and become really rich, and therefore I will not need to use the method myself, as I will not have to work again :) But I will gladly share the secret with you :)
Unfortunately Pavlov's ideas only seem to work in certain situations. Lamaze is based on Pavlov's ideas and I'm seriously doubting that it will work for me (practicing it right now). But if it does I will start taking Mr. Pavlov more seriously and will then have more faith in figuring out the beach thing.
Until then...
:)
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