DMM (British teacher) -- 歩きながら subconscious・夢・神・トランプ (TGIF ほろ酔い)

Hey, how is it going? I am absolutely knackered today, pretty proud I remembered that one from yesterday.

Ha, look at me already showing off the slang you taught me. Knackered. Did I nail it, or did I completely butcher it?

I never know if I am using these the way an actual Brit would.

Sorry, something came up and I am stuck outside on mobile data, mind if I kill my camera? The connection is a bit dodgy out here.

Quick heads-up before we get going. I am outside on my phone, so if I freeze or drop out, that is on me, not you. Want to just go audio-only to be safe?

Keep yours on though, I do not mind.

Visuals usually help me a ton, facial expressions and all that, but I reckon I will be fine. Honestly, I actually love doing these lessons on the move.

Funny thing is, losing the camera might be a blessing in disguise. With no face to read, I am forced to actually listen. Do your students focus better with video on, or does it just give them somewhere to hide?

Walking clears my head and helps me put my thoughts into words. Sitting still, I draw a blank, but the second I start walking, the wheels start turning.

And it is not me getting all woo-woo about it, there is real science here. The body moving gets the blood pumping, a bit of adrenaline, and the ideas just shake loose. Do your best lines ever hit you when you are nowhere near your desk?

Take Steve Jobs. When he wanted to think something through, he walked. He would even hold his big meetings on foot, on purpose.

Apparently he swore by it. Which makes you wonder if half our fancy boardrooms are exactly where ideas go to die. A chair and fluorescent lights are not really a recipe for genius, are they?

Honestly, I trust my subconscious more than I trust me. When I am stuck, I take a walk, switch my brain off, and let it do the heavy lifting.

It is a weird thing to admit, but I am kind of the least useful part of the process. The good stuff only bubbles up once I get out of my own way. Is that a real phenomenon, or am I just giving my lazy brain a fancy excuse?

It is a lot like dreaming, you can not really pick what you dream. Though there is lucid dreaming, where you actually know you are dreaming. Ever had one?

Here is the part that gets me. When I catch myself in a nightmare, I can sort of will myself awake, like I have got one hand on the wheel. Is that common where you are from, or do people give you funny looks when you bring up lucid dreaming?

The science says dreams are just your brain filing away the day, decluttering, nothing deep. I buy that, but part of me thinks there is more going on under the hood.

Let me play both sides here. Sure, it is housekeeping, the brain taking out the trash. But every so often a dream hits you in a way decluttering does not begin to explain.

Where do you land, purely mechanical, or is something else knocking?

I have gotten a bit spiritual lately, to be honest. Are you into any of that, religion, spirituality? Where do you stand on the beyond-science stuff?

I am genuinely curious, not trying to put you on the spot. Faith, science, the whole lot, what is your honest take? And feel free to tell me to mind my own business if it is too personal.

Everything happens for a reason, total cliche, I know, but it works for me. Eventually all the dots connect. Scientists just do not want to call it God, same thing, different name.

I am definitely not talking about some white-bearded bloke up in the clouds.

Here is where I will push back on the cartoon version, though. The old man in the sky is the picture we all got handed as kids. Strip that away and God and scientific truth start pointing at the exact same thing.

You are a believer, does it rub you the wrong way when I put it that bluntly, or does it land?

God and us are not two separate things. If you are in the truth, you are part of it, you can not be cut off from it. Even fighting it, you are still inside it.

And honestly, that is oddly comforting, if it is all connected, deep down everyone is on the same team, believer or not. Although that does raise an awkward one: where does it leave people who do real damage? A guy like Hitler, was he fighting the natural order, and does the order always win in the end?

I reckon Trump is doing real damage. I do not follow politics, but it is hitting me where it hurts, I am in construction, and some materials have just dried up because of his policies. A few of my guys are sitting at home with no work.

And this is what ties the whole conversation back together for me, it is all connected, right? Some policy on the other side of the planet, and suddenly my crew can not get materials and my day-labourers are losing shifts. I do not think a guy like that ends well in the long run, what is your read on him?

I am just learning English casually here, it is TGIF and I am a touch tipsy, so sorry if I am rambling. Thanks for hearing me out.

I appreciate you letting me think out loud instead of dragging me back to the textbook. Let us call it here before I try to solve all of philosophy half-drunk on a Friday. Next week I will be sober and we will hit the Excel idioms, deal?