I developed a neat trick for my healing work, which is to convene a courtroom in my head.
It starts with noticing that I’m doing something I don’t want to be doing. One low-shame example is sitting in a way that causes back pain.
The prosecutor addresses the court: this way of sitting is causing pain and should stop immediately.
The defence has no direct reply to this but may ask for five more minutes of internet.
The prosecutor shoots that down easily: it’s irrelevant to back pain, and in all probability that was more than enough internet for now anyway.
Sometimes the prosecutor tags on evidence that food and water are required. It is a compelling case.
But sometimes the judge isn’t listening. (The judge also likes the internet.) Then the prosecutor has to point out to the judge that nothing can happen without a bit of executive function.
Sometimes the judge is cranky and the prosecutor has to push the court. The situation will worsen without action. The main obstacle to improvement is practice. No one else can fix this.
That last point usually wins the day.
It helps solve the immediate problem and also sets a precedent for next time. I might not need to go through the entire argument again, since I’ve already built the path from noticing to fixing. Sometimes the prosecutor can just wearily say “Your Honour…” and the necessary order issues.
Over time a new habit is created. Not flawless, but better.
Petitioning the court
I developed a neat trick for my healing work, which is to convene a courtroom in my head.
It starts with noticing that I’m doing something I don’t want to be doing. One low-shame example is sitting in a way that causes back pain.
The prosecutor addresses the court: this way of sitting is causing pain and should stop immediately.
The defence has no direct reply to this but may ask for five more minutes of internet.
The prosecutor shoots that down easily: it’s irrelevant to back pain, and in all probability that was more than enough internet for now anyway.
Sometimes the prosecutor tags on evidence that food and water are required. It is a compelling case.
But sometimes the judge isn’t listening. (The judge also likes the internet.) Then the prosecutor has to point out to the judge that nothing can happen without a bit of executive function.
Sometimes the judge is cranky and the prosecutor has to push the court. The situation will worsen without action. The main obstacle to improvement is practice. No one else can fix this.
That last point usually wins the day.
It helps solve the immediate problem and also sets a precedent for next time. I might not need to go through the entire argument again, since I’ve already built the path from noticing to fixing. Sometimes the prosecutor can just wearily say “Your Honour…” and the necessary order issues.
Over time a new habit is created. Not flawless, but better.