Compartmentalisation

The mind naturally compartmentalise something when we are not ready to deal with it. That is a good thing otherwise our mind would be overwhelmed. So within a normal psyche will lie many unintegrated compartments. Some small and others larger. When the time is right; and when we have the correct tools and understanding to deal with it, we can open those compartments and resolve the conflict.

The ones that I write about here are of a different magnitude. What I call inner child issues combine a lack of understanding with emotional trauma. Let me use an example I have used before. Remember I told you about the 2 players that were sick during MSSM; they were both throwing up and running a temperature. Their "coach" insisted that they reviewed their games and they were not allowed to rest. Would it surprise you that they may form a conclusion that chess is a lousy game? Only thing is that it will also be seared in their memory along with the trauma. Now that decision have been made without careful evaluation but it is now buried somewhere in the mind and cannot now be accessed to evaluate because it is now accompanied with pain. Those boys may find that they "just" lose interest in chess and if you ask them why, they wont be able to explain. To explain they will have to recall the trauma and that is difficult to do.

So a word of caution. When you attempt to "join the dots", you may hit these compartments. Dont proceed if you find it too difficult. It's like opening the proverbial pandora box. If you think it is important to open that box because you feel that there is where the blockage to your progress is, then seek guidance.