William James wrote The Gospel of Relaxation to show why people should relax more and what relaxation can do for
humans and their life. You can look around the world and see that people in
America are always so busy or focused on something that they hardly pay
attention to anything around them. When you walk down the street of a major
city you can notice that the only thing that most people care about when they
are doing something is what they have to do next. I myself have noticed this
when I go to Nashville whether it be for a music concert or a football game,
almost everybody that you walk by or next to, will not even acknowledge your
presence nor acknowledge that you exist because most people in America are very
selfish in nature. Something else that is noticeable is that people in America
only have two main types of expressions when they have conversations. Most of
the time when you talk to someone, they either look happy or angry. This comes
from the fact that Americans do not know how to control their emotions well.
William James mentions this emotion
control in The Gospel of Relaxation. He uses the term “bottled lightning” to
describe how Americans act. He got this idea from an author who described
the heroine of the story of having this “Bottled Lightning."
James quotes a Scottish asylum physician named Dr. Clouston saying "You Americans wear too much expression
on your faces. You are living like an army with all its reserves engaged in
action.” James goes on to say that “Intensity, rapidity, vivacity of appearance,
are indeed with us something of a nationally accepted ideal” William
James also commented on a certain tension in the air around Americans. Says
that Americans are so tense because of bad role models that they follow and
allow them to dictate how they live their life. He got this idea from a
colleague of his named Münsterberg, who was a professor at Harvard where they
both taught.
James
also compares Americans and how they act with how Europeans act when they are
in public. He points out that they are polar opposites when it comes to how
each group of people acts when in public. He says that while Europeans are calm,
cool, and collected, he says that Americans are always eager and ready to move.
He uses two different workers as an example. One worker acts like a European
while the other acts like an American. James says that a worker that keeps his
emotions in check will be worth more because
he doesn't go backwards or breaks down while a
worker that does not will be worth less because he will
constantly be complaining and will never have the willingness to work even the
toughest jobs.
In The Gospel of Relaxation,
William James talks about an unhealthy mind versus a healthy mind. For an
unhealthy mind, he says that “it consists mainly of bodily discomforts
distinctly localized by the sufferer” and “a general self-mistrust and sense
that things are not as they should be with him.” What does he mean by this you
ask? That’s a great question! He means that what an unhealthy mind does to a
person is that it makes a person feel like they are unhealthy even when they
might not be. For a healthy mind, he says, “the sensations that pour in from the
organism only help to swell the general vital sense of security” and “readiness
for anything that may turn up." To him, this means that when a person has
a healthy mind, then he or she will have no fears or shame that might pop up
in inopportune times.
He gives a good explanation for how
to study for a test that not many people, myself included, do. James says to
study many consecutive days ahead of the test. While also not studying for too long,
which is not beneficial. According to Caroline Williams, “Some studies
dating from the 1990s suggest that due to natural variations in our cycle
of alertness, we can concentrate for no longer than 90 minutes before needing a
15-minute break.” And once you reach the night before the test, you are to take
your book or study material and through them down and say that "I won't waste another
minute on this miserable thing, and I don't care an iota whether I
succeed or not." James says this will do two main things for your body and
mind. The first idea that is accomplished is that it will allow you to rest and
relax knowing that you know everything to the best of your ability and the
second is that you will be less nervous for when you take the test the
following day. I do not study because I have a hard time focusing which affects
my scores on tests and quizzes.
All in all, William James had a
good idea when it came to what he thought about how people should live their
life. He wanted people in the United States to have fun and laugh. He wanted
everyone to be happy with who they are and how they act in our society. I have
come to agree with him more in this essay. I have not always been the happiest
person because I was mad over something that shouldn’t have affected me as much
as it did, but I have learned to move past it. This essay and James have proven
to me even more that this attitude change was a good idea and was the best idea
for my life now and in the future. I hope to further myself using the teachings
given out by these thinkers to fully make myself into a better person and a
better partner in life. I hope you will
see that his view on this topic will help you in some way whether it be in a
small or big way.
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