Dave was talking about something unrelated to my specific experience but ends up doing a great job explaining some of the things I’ve talked about in dealing with the conscious mind conflicting with the subconscious. Think about this in relation to the sudden loss of a spouse where the subconscious fights to supress the reality of such a powerful loss.
“That’s why simple stories about people and love are so powerful. Our
reasoning bodies, our intellects, are relatively powerless; compared to the
power of memory, the subconscious. If the intellect is a skinny stick figure
standing on the side of a narrow road, the subconscious is a 16-wheel
semi-truck barreling down the road at 90 miles per hour. Think of the stick
figure waving and signalling, “Slow down slow down,” and the truck keeps on
going as if nothing were happening (nothing is happening).”
In my case the stick figure is me trying to cope with the loss of my partner of 21 years, and the semi-truck is grief (grief monster to my Widownet friends).
http://davenet.userland.com/2003/07/23/onBeautyInWomen