Recently we were introduced to bobs in the tower – not bobs as in curtsies or haircuts, but bobs as in bell ringing jargon – calls that require 3 members of a band of ringers to change tack. Everyone is heading in a familiar pattern, the conductor says "bob" and some shuffling about takes place. What you thought you were about to do may no longer apply, but then again it might because you may be "unaffected" by the call and can pursue your original path with confidence.
Except, if like me you have always relied on learning the order of the bells in a plain course to follow, this becomes problematic. Even if I am "unaffected" I am "affected" because my mental map has been disrupted. The order will change and I have to resist with every ounce of my being a sudden strong desire to work out the implications for me personally. Not content with looking at what has happened and acting accordingly, I suffer from a false belief that I can only continue if I understand who has moved where. This demands far more brain space than I can possibly muster, thus I feel lost and prone to panic. If only I can keep counting and catching a glimpse of something now and then, I will probably be OK, but my brain says otherwise. It demands certainty and certainty is there none because no one can possibly learn every possible permutation in advance without blowing a fuse.
Therefore when they say "but you are unaffected, just keep doing what you are doing" they haven't a clue because they do not know what I am doing. It is that wretched "just" word again. Here it means "simply" or "merely" but for some of us there is nothing simple about it. Remove my crib sheet and I am flying by the seat of my pants. Anything might happen and probably will.
I bet that I am not the only one.
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