When I was 14 and studying GCSEs, my Dad tried to get me to study more by planting a subliminal message in my head. He did this by coming into my room while I was asleep and repeating the word “study” a few times, in the hope that it would register in my subconscious and be something I then wanted to do.
He did it quite early in the morning, as he used to leave for work as I was getting up, so it was probably at about 6 to 7am.
I wasn’t asleep, but I wasn’t awake either. I was at that mid-conscious stage where you’re aware of things but they don’t necessarily make sense.
I remember my door opening, and his silhouette as he crept in, and I remember wondering what he was doing as I squinted, trying to give the impression I wasn’t awake. Was he going to put clothes in my wardrobe? Or leave me some pocket money? Or wake me up? I ran through loads of options quite optimistically.
So when he stood next to my bed and said what sounded like “Nunny,” initially I was a little confused.
He waited there a few moments, then again said what sounded like “Nunny.”
Then, after a few moments, he headed out and closed my door.
I don’t mind saying that at this point, I was baffled. At the time I didn’t understand about subliminal advertising, so I didn’t know what he was doing or what effect he was trying to make me achieve.
When I was young I did have to have my ears syringed to clear the wax, so maybe my hearing was bad at this time. Who knows what effect it would have had if I had been asleep with good hearing? Maybe I’d have been influenced heavily by it?
So for all you who have asked over the years, that’s the reason I became a Nun.