Cinderella: Magical Thinking

In Cinderella's version of the Grimm Brothers, there is no Fairy Godmother. Cinderella's wishes do come true, but not through some magical fairy, but rather from a hazelnut tree growing on her mother's grave. Cinderella would walk towards the tree, would ask for a wish she deeply desires, and all of a sudden a white bird would come down out of nowhere, carrying every single thing she needs to fulfill her heart's desire. A magical wish-fulfilling tree... sounds odd, does it not?
Magical thinking is about linking one’s inner personal experience with the external physical world. “I asked the tree from my mother’s grave for beautiful clothes to wear to the ball, and he gave them to me!”... That an example of what I’m trying to say. It doesn’t make much sense... Well, actually it could have it.
In the 20th century, Freud did a small study about this. He argued that there are two fundamental forms of thought: primary and secondary process. The primary process is the one related to the pleasure principle, what drives one’s instincts and seeks immediate gratification of all needs, wants, and desires. The secondary process is like rational thought: it connects one's instincts with reality, and based on that, provides rational analysis that allows the person to adjust to the environment.
Magical thinking is a form of primary process. So, Cinderella knew what her instincts were, but couldn’t relate them to reality... Can you?

Photography by @Victoria Borodinova

Pocahontas: Can Trees Talk?

Almost everybody has seen Pocahontas at least once. The most curious part of the movie for me? Well, it was quite shocking to see Grandmother Willow, a talking willow tree, that somewhat guided Pocahontas. Some years later, I’m asking myself this... Can trees talk? Can they communicate with us? Could we learn from them like the protagonist? Recent evidence says that trees can communicate with each other. Suzanne Simard ’s research shows that below the earth there are vast networks of roots working with fungi to move water, carbon, and nutrients among trees of all species. These complex, symbiotic networks, also known as Wood-Wide Web or mycorrhizal networks, mimic human neural and social networks. This network even has mother trees or hub trees, managing information flow, helping younger seedlings and passing wisdom from generation to generation. Peter Wohlleben , a German forester and author, also researched in this area, proving that not only through the soil can trees communi...

The Twilight Saga: How the Idea of a Soulmate Affects Our Mind

Everybody knows at least one of the synonyms for the word “soulmate”: androgynous, soulmate, destined, mate, ‘true love’, ‘one's promised’... But there’s only one definition: a special affinity, understanding, or powerful bond that exists between one person and another. For example, we see Jacob Black (one of the principal characters of the movie “ Twilight ”) in the penultimate movie of the saga finding out that Bella and Edward’s daughter, Reneesmé, is his soulmate. As I thought about this, I became very curious about one thing... How many people believed in having a soulmate? Well, according to a Marist poll , 73% of Americans believe in soulmates; more men than women believe in the ‘soulmate’ theory (males: 74%, females: 71%); and 79% of people younger than 45 believe in soulmates, while only 69% of those over 45 do. Now, that’s a lot of people! And again, thinking about this, how would this theory, believing in a ‘soulmate’ affect their minds? Luckily for me, I found some sci...

The Book of Life: The Impostor’s Syndrome

Some of you may have seen the movie The Book of Life . I liked, one way or the other, all the characters presented in the plot: some of them are odious, some are lovable... And one of the characters that’s the most pitiest, for me, is Joaquin. In the movie, we see a fearless General, ready for whatever comes in the way... Is it? Actually, no. He is consumed by guilt, really thinking that he doesn’t deserve all the medals and achievements he has. Even when he no longer has his ‘special medal’ to protect him (we have to see how ‘special’ was... Maybe it was something to lift his self-confidence, like the ‘ beauty patch ’, or the trick that Harry Potter plays on his friend Ronald ) and fights along with Manolo, almost sacrificing himself on the way, he doesn’t feel himself worthy of a medal anymore. This kind of thinking, self-doubting your competence and capacities, the overwhelming feeling that you don't deserve your success, is what we call ‘Impostor Syndrome’. As Joaquin, pe...

The Green Papyrus

Search This Blog