Your Mind Is Not You

Most of us assume the voice in our head is us.

But we don’t choose our thoughts. They appear. We notice them. Sometimes they’re helpful, but often they’re reactive, contradictory, repetitive, or completely disconnected from reality. If we’re not consciously making them, how could they be us?

Considering this, I thought I’d try something new. I gave my mind a name, Odi, and the effect was profound.

Why Name Your Mind

“When your doctor hits that spot on your knee, do You kick the doctor? Of course not. It’s a reflex out of your control, like most of your thoughts.“

Your mind is a tool that processes, analyzes, spins stories, and tries to keep you safe. Sometimes it’s useful. Mostly it’s just noise. 

And because you don’t intentionally create your thoughts, they do not define you and you shouldn’t let them. They are just a reflex of the muscle that is your brain. 

So, when your mind starts narrating things in ways that make you anxious, or small, or self-critical, it helps to find ways to create a little distance from your mind so you can see it, and it’s thoughts, objectively and clearly. 

A powerful way to create that distance is to give your mind a name. A name gives shape to the voice and reminds you that it’s something you have, not something you are. It becomes a character that you can observe. You can notice it , see it, and deal with it without getting swept up by it.

You can even laugh at it.

Creating the Right Character

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” — Carl Jung

Start by noticing how your mind behaves when it’s loudest. Is it controlling, anxious, smug, scared? Does it overexplain? Worry? Judge?

Now imagine if that voice were a person. What would they look like? What would their tone be? What would you call them?

I wanted the characterization of my mind to look like how I feel about my knee-jerk thinking patterns: clever and restless, but also young and a little self-important. It also felt good for me to give it a mythic and slightly embarrassing feel. I landed on the name Odi. Short for Odysseus, the clever wanderer, and also a nod to the id, the impulsive, primal part of the psyche.

Once I had the name, I started imagining his face. I used A.I. to help me shape it. At first he was too old, too wise, too composed. I kept refining until I landed on a version that felt right. A skinny, moody teenager with too many opinions and not enough perspective with features that vaguely resembled my own. That’s Odi. That’s my mind.

Meet Odi.

He’s my mind, he’s not me.

The Power of Seeing It

“You don't have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.”— Alan Watts

It’s strange how much it helps. Odi still talks. But now when I hear my thoughts spiraling, catastrophizing, or trying to “protect” me, I say,  “Okay, Odi, settle down. We don’t need that kind of negativity right now. Take five, buddy.”

I don’t have to fight him or believe him. I just recognize he’s doing his thing.

This kind of distancing isn’t just poetic. It’s based in psychology. In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, it’s called cognitive defusion. In Internal Family Systems therapy, it’s dialoguing with your parts. Psychologist Ethan Kross calls it self-distancing. Eckhart Tolle says you are not your mind, but the awareness behind it.

Try It Yourself

You don’t need any special tools to do this. Just tune in. Notice how your mind speaks to you, what exactly your thoughts are saying to you. Then try imagining that voice as a separate person. Let a picture form. Then let a name come to you, it doesn’t have to have any special meaning. After all, a rose by any other name…

And when that picture is clear enough, you’ll remember that you are not your thoughts. You’re the one noticing them. You’re the one who chooses who to be, and what to believe.

Enjoy the freedom it brings.