Freudian Slips on Ice

The term 'freudian slip' may have fallen out of fashion these days. When I was young it was a way of signaling that you or someone else had made a mistake due to the unconscious mind briefly taking control of your body. Funny slips of the tongue, a physical action, or faults in memory were once attributed to the deep unconscious raising its ugly head. Unable to repress desires hidden from your conscious mind, you were supposed to reveal your real self through (usually) naughty slips of the tongue, or some unintended action. Here is a pretty clean example.

Here's another example: over the last couple of weeks, I've mislaid my skating protection, time and time again.

First, one day I left my knee pads in the bag and skated a whole session without realizing I didn't have them on. Then one wrist guard disappeared.  I was in the ice show and couldn't wear them under my costume gloves so I skated without them. Then after the second ice show, I left my elbow pads behind in the dressing room. This occurred despite the fact I looked under the bench, on the shelf and all around my dressing area. I  walked out without them even though according to the woman who found them, they were left in plain view.  I've since skated without them.

So, is my unconscious telling me I no longer need my skating protection? Have my skills become so solid that I'm consciously clinging to an unneeded crutch? Am I ready to train while skating 'bare'?

No. 

Let me slap some sense into my unconscious mind

First off, I skate mostly on public ice. It's crowded, and you never know when an ice tourist will skate into you, or block you and cause you to take a fall. Secondly, public ice is not always as well maintained as freestyle. Recently, at a nearby rink a coach(!) tripped on a divot and broke her wrist. Thirdly, while I'm totally willing to skate a test or complete on nicely maintained ice with no skating protection, or do even a freestyle with only knee pads, I'm not willing to go 'bare' on public.

Falls are part of the game. But unlike kids who recover quickly, it can take me months to recover from a really bad fall. I'd rather spend that time skating in practice with protection, rather than skate without my sensible protection. But comps or tests, totally bare is okay.

So, little miss unconscious mind, you need to scoot back into your box and unrepress something else.

Dreams of Skating bear

 

 

 

Dear unconscious mind, please stop punning and pick another topic, willya?