I have been thinking a lot about how thoughts have a physical nature to them. Of course, we like to consider ourselves to be spiritual (or, nowadays, mostly cerebral), but in fact, the way we feel and even think has a lot to do with our bodies.
When I am physically calm and comfortable, I can think more clearly.
My wife and I always see certain things differently– I think this has to do with physical differences tied to our gender(s).
The medicine I take inhibits Serotonin in my brain. Serotonin is associated with experiencing pleasure. So, what, in part, keeps my lucid has to do with my body feeling less pleasure.
I wonder if, instead of associating most of what we feel and think with a sort of identity, we were to admit that a lot has to do with our bodies, and how we treat them, and how they are treated.
By no means does this mean that a person would only experience pleasure, at all times, forever.
Perhaps, though, they could admit that what pain there is is sometimes needed to produce clarity– to survive in a complex and changing environment.
I have had a bad history of denying my physical nature and needs and I feel sad for people who still can’t see this about themselves– who rock back and forth uncomfortably, refusing to associate sadness and anger with personal, corporal pain.
A Schizophrenic Perspective 