Sunday, February 14, 2010

Pens that won't run out of ink, and cool quiet and time to think

I was thinking recently about how we are constantly stimulated wherever we go. It seems to me this leaves little room in the mind for our own thoughts. Where does your mind go when it is constantly under assault by a thousand different kinds of media. Print ads on the subway, iPods in your ears, television at home, podcasts during work hours, even something as innocent as a book or magazine to read on the bus ride. To me, it all seems to be taking away from the time we have on our own, to think, to consider deeply.

On Friday evening I had something hopeful on my mind that I wanted to think about. What I realized, though, was that in my normal routine, I don't really have any time to consider things. I'm often in a hurry, and I'm almost always being stimulated by something exterior to my brain. I had to turn off the TV, and the music, and the lights to even have a chance to process the thoughts I had wanted to process. I was completely surprised by the fact that in my normal day, I don't really have time to think things over. I hadn't budgeted my time for that, and I wasn't even aware of it.

It seems to me that we often lose sight of how much stimulation we are forcing our minds to endure. It's important to think about stuff! Give yourself some time, unstimulated, to go over everything that's happened to you thus far, and consider everything that will happen. It's a lark! It's also something that is essentially human, and that we need to be sure not to lose.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for that reminder, Allan. It's an important thing, taking quiet time to think. I use my long walks for that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. no problemo, it struck me as funny that i had to make an effort to do it

    ReplyDelete
  3. i concur with your sentiments brother. I dont know what long term cumulative effects this constant bombardment will have on human beings, but i bet something is happening. inability to retain focus in conversations, ADD, who knows...

    ReplyDelete
  4. keep whispering the truth that people are so scared of hearing.

    ReplyDelete