well, if we're talking psych-defense mechanisms - then trying to ignore your own tendency for intellectualization would just be a form of repression, right? Or perhaps suppression. Same principle, anyway (I'm no psychologist).
Forcing yourself to adopt a different 'mindset' probably isn't the best idea, then. There's obviously some root cause for your intellectualization. (If you're describing it as a defense mechanism, I'm assuming you know what's triggering your response?) If you want to 'enjoy life' - which is a pretty subjective ideal, anyway - maybe you should try confronting whatever it is directly?
edit: sorry, didn't see your other two posts.
hmm, alasdair. You've caught on! =) I'm not too bummed about bad things happening in life. However, I'm not at the point yet where I can learn from all my negative experiences. But I'd still like to be able to enjoy life or feel relaxed at least once in a while. Life's a burden to live, not a joy. Isn't it supposed to be the latter?
If it wasn't, how would the species have gotten where we are? I'm not sure if the root of this burden is social or something else. At the moment it seems like the former.
I can either embrace that I will eventually be myself, or I can get upset that it will take me some time to be myself. Hmm.
Although I feel I've dumbed myself down and I really don't like that. asdijfas;fkj
What's stopping you learning from your negative experiences? Do you not want to face your past/these experiences again?
There's nothing that prescribes what the 'joy' you find in life has to or should be. If the root of your burden is social, remember that there is nothing stopping you leading a happy and fulfilling life in (relative) solitude.
Perhaps the reason for your 'burden' is the expectation you've placed on yourself. When you say things like '...that I will eventually be myself...it will take me some time to be myself' - it seems to me like you're living in the future (holding on to the possiblity of a grand future life) or rather, in the past (one step behind the person you want to be). The solution to that might be: realise that you are who you are (as hokey/corny as that sounds) and it's often far better to reconcile your present self with your expectations than to constantly live on the move, groping for a dream (the burden you have placed on yourself).
The fear of failure, then, could be one of the things triggering your intellectualization (that is, your defense) - failure in your own eyes, in the eyes of others. Your social burden might have something to do with a minor inferiority complex - is everyone else constructing their grand personas while you're left fumbling in the dark?
I sound like a cheap self-help website. Anyway, the only way you'll ever topple your fears/come to terms with life (and be able to enjoy it) is by asking questions, getting to know yourself. If you don't keep a diary, that's one suggestion I can give. Writing your thoughts down might lend them some coherence (or tap into something deeper) - of course, posting here is a good thing, but you'll never be totally honest with yourself when you're writing for an audience.
When it's just you, the pen and the paper, that's when you'll figure things out. peace
