Flashlights and Bathroom Doors and the Christmas Spirit

This week's been rough. I'm in the process of selling my home of 18 years (you wouldn't believe the crap that entails in this economy), am having issues with my own credit score, thanks to my idiotic attempts to help my 22-year-old son, and right now, work's a real bitch. I deal with the public - bad enough - but in my case the "public" consists mainly of old, sick and/or nervous people who don't want to be in a surgeon's office to begin with. I'm not only required to have them fill out a ream of paperwork, but also to collect deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance. Amazing how many people have no clue what their insurance covers, how much they're required to pay and so on, especially at the beginning of the year, when their policies roll over. Seems like they think just because they have insurance, our services should be free. Point is, I've had clipboards, paperwork, pens, and even cash thrown at me. And through all this, I must keep a smile on my face, speak softly, maintain a professional demeanor at all times while there are four other patients waiting (usually late for their appointments, in which case I also have either a technician or a nurse looking over my shoulder and tapping their feet, as if that would speed the process up), three phone lines ringing (in that case, the schedulers are giving me dirty looks, because I don't pick up on the first ring) and if that's not enough, inevitably a doctor (for whom I WILL drop everything) will ask me to get Dr. So and So on the line for them. STAT. Sigh. I love my job. Really. And I'm damn good at it. But sometimes, sometimes, it just pisses me off that I can't defend myself when some self-righteous hypochondriac berates me because I didn't greet him with "good morning, Mr. Asswipe" instead of saying "hi, Mr. Whatcrawledupyourassandgotstucksideways, your co-pay today is $12." Excuse the hell outta me for trying to get business done.

Okay. Sorry. I kinda lost my happy place for a minute. Anyway, that was about all I could take, so as soon as I could, I left the office to compose myself. And the bathroom door opened before I even got there. Only time this week. Nobody there but yours truly. I went in, dried my eyes and concentrated on making the door open again. Stood right in front of the handicapped plate and thought at it as hard as I could. Nothing. So here's my theory...

We generate all this energy that is normally just free-floating electricity, but in certain situations, this energy becomes focused and becomes concentrated. Well, it has to go somewhere. I think there are a few people that can harness that energy consciously. Anyone who's heard about Indian yogis knows what I'm talking about. I also think that many of us use this energy subconsciously. We all know people who have "presence" or "charisma". Could it be they shine more brightly than others? We're certainly aware of attraction or revulsion to particular individuals at first sight. I can't believe it's simply due to physical aspect. How about meeting someone the first time and feeling you've known them forever? Need more to blow your mind?

The popular belief is that we use about 10 percent of our brain. The advent of fMRI proved that one completely wrong. We do use 100 percent, but we're not smart enough to know how. To wit: in oncology it's now a reluctantly accepted fact that cancer patients can speed remission using self-hypnosis and positive imagery to fight their disease. Studies have been done proving the effectiveness of prayer to achieve the same result. In the Bible it states, "that wherever two or more of you are gathered, I will be there." Is it actually that when we focus out energy, even unknowingly and calling it by other names, we combine and become more than ourselves?

And at what other time than Christmas are more people focused on one special idea? All over the planet, whether religious or not, billions of individuals concentrate on prayer, presents, family, life...spirit. Imagine billions of 10volt flashlights shining on one particular spot in the sky. I'm pretty sure we'd see that light all over the globe. Hell, it would shine to the end of the universe. So even if we're not aware of the energy we produce, if produced at the same time, perhaps we feel it. Animals, particularly domesticated ones like dogs and horses which are more attuned to human behavior than their wild cousins, would be susceptible. The possibilities are awesome and frightening in their impications.

Does your head hurt? Mine does. For whatever reason, it seems incredibly hard for us to comtemplate the power of our own minds. At least until evolution makes a giant leap once more.

Shine on, my friends.
Mu

The Flashlight Theory - Christmas cont.

I...I...I'm ALIIIIVE! Seriously, people, it's been way too long since I posted. Seems reality has a way of interfering with imagination. I have some things under control though, and find I miss putting thoughts on paper - or LCD. Whatever.
Let me tell you a true and truly strange story before we proceed to the last part of my Christmas spirit narrative. The building in which I've worked for the past three years is part of a hospital campus and contains mainly medical offices. Therefore, all the doors have those push-activated entry plates. That includes the restrooms, of course. Several times during the last three or four months, the restroom doors have opened for me - without pushing the plates. No, they are NOT motion activated. I tested that after the MEN's door opened as I passed by, and no, no one came out. I went so far as to go in (I wear scrubs; I figured if there were any men in there I would say I got a page that there was an emergency), and there was NO ONE THERE. Same with the Ladies' room. The door has opened as I was about to reach for the handle going out or in, and even as I passed close to get a drink at the water fountain. At no time was anyone behind me, beside me or in front of me. In fact, it's never happened when there was another person in the corridor. I asked my co-workers if they'd ever experienced the same thing and they all looked at me like I was crazy (well, I am, but not in that way). Yesterday I was particularly upset about many issues as I left the office for lunch. My mind was a mess, my heart hurt, my stomach slewed and guess what? Yup. The Ladies' door opened though I had no intention of going in. I. Just. Walked. By. And then stopped midstride when I realized this phenomenon only happened whenever I was stressed or extremely focused on something.
Now. I don't believe in ghosts, UFO's, Big Foot (though my ex-husband could potentially give credence to its existence), or anything not explainable outside the ability of our own mind. Consider: enzymes in the brain cause flashes of information to pass from neuron to neuron. These flashes are basically a collection of atoms released from cells. Each time an atom fires, it loses energy. Multiply that energy by a few trillion, and you have a brain that generates 10-12 volts of electricity daily for a lifetime. While my science is incredibly simplified, it is verifiable. Ever hear of an EEG? An electroencephalogram can only measure brainwaves, but experiments have proven that, were it in a form we could harness and store, the electricity produced by a human brain would power a flashlight 24/7. Unfortunately, we haven't yet figured out just exactly how we can power our household appliances by thinking about it. But isn't it profound that all that energy is just floating around, unnoticed, undirected and mostly ignored? Since one of Newton's laws states that energy must be conserved, where does the energy go? Can we make it go somewhere? Can we tap into the reservoir of energy that surrounds every living being? Is energy the "soul"? Can we combine our energy? Mind-boggling, isn't it?
I'm going to make a lot of trips to the bathroom during the next weeks...