It is often said that getting it out of your system is cathartic. Tensions released by expressing what’s on the mind has a way of removing energy that festers negativity thereby having the potential of tainting other aspects of life. It sounds like some hokie concept heard on some alternative therapy infomercial streamed on late night television. This concept however has a long history and it has been known by many names. 

After a long day getting back to the flat was a welcome reprieve. The day was unusual in that we had quite a few people faint during the course of the day. Well one person definitely passed out the sight of their own blood and their inability to control their physiological response sent them over the edge of consciousness and into a passed out state. Another had their medical issues excaserbated by the procedures that we were going to proceed with. We were at the preparatory state when the sweats and dry heaving commenced. Our procedure did not continue. Finally there was a morbidly obese person who was being tested. Their girth was too large for our systems to handle and we modified the test to suit. They started to feel woozy and had to sit down a few times. Why today of all days has all this happened?

None of these events were overwhelming. These are events that I’ve seen before and will likely see again in the future. The beauty of working in the medical field in some capacity is that these events happen. They also tend to happen in spurts. I remember last year a run of patients having a reaction to the contrast we used in their procedures. Over a two week span three or four people had to be admitted to the emergency department to be monitored. After that there wasn’t any. Years ago I had a similar period where three people passed out on me during injections. Only one warned me that it might happen and it did. Another was there to support their needlephobic spouse and ended up passing out themselves. Funny how the needlephobia disappeared at that moment. 

When they say that it’s all in the mind what do they mean? The mind itself is a construct a concept that we use to refer to the processes that form our persona in our brain. Whether that’s the soul of an epiphenomenon of brain activity is up to debate. Passions rage one way or another. Still the mind is not something like the brain that can be held it is a conceptual framework that over time through study has yielded insights into its activity and influence on behavior. 

“Can I ask you something?” I began talking to my flatmate, “would it be possible for you to close the door behind you more quietly. When you let it go it slams quite loudly waking me up.” I was going to begin with the dirty sink but somehow I began with this. 

“What do you mean?” He responded. He went to check how the door closes. We have the windows open and the draft builds a force that slams the door shut when it closes. 

WHAM!

“I didn’t even realize.” He said and then apologizing afterwards. It didn’t register in him that the doors slamming like this could disturb another. I wondered if I waited for too long to tell him this but he hasn’t been here regularly and only recently has this become an issue. The days have become warmer and the windows are opened wider the draft is that much stronger. I showed him how I close the door quietly catching it an inch or so before it slams into the frame and gently guiding it closed. It’s my ninja skills. 

The issue of the sink was also discussed and I said that it was just out of curtesy to each other. I tend not to be such a clean freak when living in my own although living with others has ingrained in me the importance of keeping things clean. It has now become a habit.