All these years I thought my mind wandered a lot, idle thoughts knocking around in my noggin like careening, caroming pinballs.\u00a0 I had always thought it was a negative thing,\u00a0as if I had some problem focusing on thoughts that really mattered or things at hand.\u00a0 Imagine my delight and\u00a0amazement to realize, recently, that these words were not idle or empty, but were my own ongoing reactions to the world around me.\u00a0 In the privacy of my own mind, I interpreted and reflected on things I saw and heard and did.\u00a0 All these years, probably from the time I learned words, I’ve been collecting sights and sounds, words and events, like so many ingredients for a stir-fry.\u00a0 Trouble was, I\u00a0let them sit on the chopping board, unccoked, unseasoned, unstirred and unserved.\u00a0 I wasn’t even aware of them, sometimes, or at least not aware of their significance.\u00a0 Now, finally, I have learned and am still learning to listen and pay attention to what’s going on up there, and to write my thoughts down.\u00a0 Maybe I’m late to the kitchen, all those years of words ignored, but at least I’m here now, apron and hat on, frying, baking, broiling and serving up sentences, paragraphs, poems, essays, and soon, stories.<\/p>\n
I also think of this flow of ideas, my interpretation of what’s going on, as the idea river<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Since\u00a0it’s\u00a0something I’ve hardly paid attention to all these years but now am keenly aware of, the experience\u00a0feels\u00a0like a river at times, torrents of expression and impression I sometimes scramble to write.<\/p>\n I chatted with a friend on the walk to work today.\u00a0 He told me he\u00a0will be leading a group discussion this evening\u00a0about living in the moment.\u00a0 He asked for my thoughts.\u00a0 I mentioned listening to the words in one’s mind as\u00a0a way to live in the moment.\u00a0\u00a0My reflections on the world around me are happening in me right now.\u00a0 I’m not regretting the past or being anxious about the future; just listening now.\u00a0 He pointed out that a lot of the words\u00a0people speak to themselves are\u00a0negative ones, self-critical and destructive.\u00a0 I wondered if those negative thoughts could be seen positively, as statements of emptiness or lack that, once spoken and acknowledged\u00a0are available to be filled.\u00a0 Or at least, listened to and written, maybe the first step to dealing with them.<\/p>\n I don’t know if\u00a0everybody has words, perceptions, interpretations of life running through their brains, but I am sure many do.\u00a0 Whether you’re 21 or 51, or 81, start writing them down now.\u00a0 The next time you are aware of a thought or a reaction, positive or negative,\u00a0write it.\u00a0\u00a0Be aware of how you experience something like a sunset, a park, a meal, a building,\u00a0or an interaction between you and another person.\u00a0 Write a word, a sentence, or a paragraph.\u00a0 Or more.\u00a0 Whip up a literary omelet or frittata of your own from the ingredients you already have in your head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" All these years I thought my mind wandered a lot, idle thoughts knocking around in my noggin like careening, caroming pinballs.\u00a0 I had always thought it was a negative thing,\u00a0as if I had some problem focusing on thoughts that really … Continue reading