Blog Post 4

 During this week's readings, the articles discussed public discourse and everything that goes into public discourse. I found the idea of conscious and nonconscious very interesting when it comes to accountability, intention, and agency. In the article Rhetorical Agency as Emergent and Enacted by Mariyln M. Cooper, she talks about agency and the role that it plays when bringing about change. Specifically, she talks about how “though our world changes in response to individual action, agents are very often not aware of their intentions, they do not directly cause changes, and the choices they make are not free from influence from their inheritance, past experiences, or their surround” (Cooper 421). I think that it’s fascinating how we are not consciously aware of our actions and the impact that they have on those around us. Cooper talks about how both nonconcious and conscious processes contribute to our actions, and yet we are unaware of the processes. I also found it fascinating how our emotions play a role in our actions. Cooper discusses how “emotions are, at base, preparations for action, and we become aware of them (as others do, often before we do) only when they are expressed in publicly observable, and internally felt, adaptations of the body that serve as signals of intent” (Cooper 430). Our emotions decide how we act and react to our environment around us. I had not realized the importance of expressing our emotions publicly, in order to become aware of how we are actually feeling. 

This immediately made me think about people that have any sort of mental illness and how it can affect their actions. For example, my mother has severe PTSD and anxiety. She struggles when trying to express her emotions, which then makes it difficult when reacting to a situation. Most of the time she is not aware of her actual emotions until I point out possible ways that she could be feeling, based on her actions. When it comes to individuals with any sort of mental illness, it can be harder to express emotions than an individual without any sort of mental illness. It can also be more difficult to act upon their emotions, especially if they are not aware of them. Personally, I have extreme anxiety and depression and have a harder time reacting to situations around me in a rational way. I respond more with my emotions than with logic, and am sometimes aware of how I am feeling even when it may seem obvious based on my actions.