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DAH is me, David Anthony Hance.
Borrowed from my dear friend Susana … "Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats"(Voltaire) 
First up this week: Id … 
Last week I mentioned Monkey and Elephant as DAH spirit animals. I think of Monkey as Id, DAH as Ego, and Elephant as Superego. I'm not an expert, with only my undergrad Psych courses, and grad-school "Psycho-history" historiography work to inform me. Some of you might view all history as psycho, but psycho-history is a real thing (Merriam-Webster: "historical analysis or interpretation using psychological and psychoanalytic methods"). I'm undoubtedly bending and simplifying concepts. As to Id-Monkey: "The id is a part of the unconscious that contains all the urges and impulses … The id is also kind of stubborn, for it responds only to what Freud called the pleasure principle" (SimplyPsychology.org). I converse with Monkey (in my mind, seldom aloud). I particularly value Id-Monkey for being quick and intuitive and emotion-driven. Often Ego-DAH is slowed by Superego-Elephant logic and mores and caution. Simply put: Id-Monkey reminds me to have fun and to challenge received knowledge. I find the need for these increasingly essential. 
 
Second up this week, Idiot …
Nothing to do with Id, although I sometimes feel an idiot when I (and even when I don't) pay too much attention to my Id-Monkey. I'm quite good at not having regrets. But I confess to some short term regrets when I do something silly.
"Idiot," I say to myself.
"Idiot," I say aloud.
"You're not an idiot … don't say things like that," says my companion.
We all do silly things now and again. I do, I do. Sigh. Such an idiot. But best not to self-denigrate. Best not to regret. Best to accept, adjust, and advance. Three a-words to live by. When I do, I'm less an idiot. 

Third up this week, Identity …
Also nothing to do with Id, although it could make sense it it were, since Id-Monkey is such a part of my identity (id plus entity equals Monkey and me). Part of my personal identity, rather than my public identity. And there's a difference. A difference for most of us. Our personal identity is that which we keep to ourselves, or share only with intimates. Our public identity is that we wear to present to the world at large. I know there are people who confuse the two identities. Sometimes that works. Sometimes it just alarms others (if their personal identity is particularly wild, or divergent from their public identity). And that's enough psycho-DAH for now!

A book about thinking …
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2011)
"An outstandingly clear and precise study of the 'dual-process' model of the brain and our embedded self-delusions" (review in The Guardian). This book was gifted me years ago, when I was still posting (online) my DAH-and-Monkey conversations. I think I need to return to both (book and conversations). 

And a bit more: 

Valentine, by Carol Ann Duffy

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
if you like.
Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.


And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's Sometimes

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.