My Journal #2

Thinking?

What do you think about thinking itself, in general? Do humans think all the time?

I smiled when I read this prompt. Women's minds are always thinking. They open the file drawer in the morning and pull out a stack of folders. Through out the day their minds have to deal with a number of file drawers and folders. Sometimes they can close a drawer and sometimes a folder gets moved to another file drawer.

Most men on the other hand deal with one drawer at a time. They wake, open the drawer for the day and deal with all their folders in and out.  Then close the drawer when they leave work or take it home leaving that drawer open.  The idea that one can deal with multiple situations throughout the day/week and month is foreign to most men. They accept their lot in life and are amazed at the juggling a woman does.

Never ask a man how he's feeling (unless he's sick). Always ask a man, "What are you thinking about this minute?" 
"Right now?"
"No the moment I asked the question."
Chances are you are going to get a very odd disjointed thought. Safety answers are, "You dear." 
They get the eyeball roll. If there is a long pause while they think of an answer you'll accept, you might want to ask that more often or keep him engaged.

Humans are higher on the animal chain as they can think, reason and have free will to chose their life. Animals have instinct and can be taught to respond, but rarely rationalize a situation.

We can create with our minds. Process a formula and end up with a conclusion. Sometimes right, wrong and way off base. We have that ability. Our creative process varies with each person's makeup.

Some are pantsters who write while the juces flow then go back a rewrite until its the best it can be. Others plan every detail. Some like me plot the story, maybe add some notes by chapter points to keep the story flowing, but then just sit down and write.

Training your creative mind to think along a pattern that seemingly works but needs an adjustment now and then is a good thing. We learn by asking questions, trying different styles and formats to our writing until we find the best one for us or that particular storyline.

I once saw a show about a man who had been deaf all his life and got a cochlear emplant and could hear. By the end of the day he was back at the hospital crying. He couldn't deal with all the sounds bombarding him. As children we adjust to sounds and filter what we want to hear and ignor the rest. We get "selective" hearing when we get older.  Our brains think the same way. We can train it to filter what we don't wish to think about and concentrate on the things we like.

All in all it still means, putting your buttocks in a seat and writing. Then doing it repeadedly.  Happy writing.