Enemies of Choice

In Frances G. Wickes' book, "The Inner World of Choice", she writes in Chapter Four, "As we enter the country of the enemies of choice, we find ourselves in gray mists where ghosts wander over the waters of unconsciousness."

She tells of a child's dream in which a Tall White Ghost held magnets that "lured his conscious energy away from the tasks of the day into a world of daydream" until he was saved by a God that "takes you and cleans away all your ghosts". Later she explains that "It was the crocodile god, Inertia, who gave the magnet to the Tall White Ghost." Inertia is a powerful enemy of choice.

Wickes had the advantage of a long, successful career as a psychotherapist with "micro parables" as they're called in the Foreword written by Henry A. Murray. She uses those "micro myths" with metaphors to illustrate conflict-settling decisions. Each example she gives could be a story prompt, a tempting distraction from my memoir.