Doesn’t it drive you crazy when you are in the middle of conversing with someone and the point you were going to make literally drops from your mind? Can you hear the heavy clunk of it landing on the ground? Having fun with “brain droppings”…
Dropping data here and there...dropping data everywhere! (I must get my Dr. Seuss in!) For many years when I suddenly lost a thought, I used to like to say that my brain was on lay-away. I could have gone a step further and said, “and there’s no blue light special to bring it back.” (Kmart fans will know what this means – unless their brains are on lay-away.)
I took on a job recently that ended up being more hours than anticipated, while keeping up with my blogs, other writing projects, etc. and life in general, I have more recently said that my brain feels like it is running on overtime. It’s going too many directions at once, too fast, dropping data here and there, going blank here and there, pausing to force me to work much harder to retrieve what I was just about to say or do, here and there (and everywhere!) and not wanting to shut down – here and there, including during sleeping hours. Over time I find that mental fatigue is dragging my body behind me. If only I could just sling my body over my shoulder...
Can you visualize it? Brain “dropping data here and there” like a flower girl in a wedding dropping petals here and there. It would be nice if I could follow that imaginary flower girl and pick the petals of thought back up after she drops them.
Maybe brain droppings are more like melting candle wax flowing over and building up a lovely art exhibit at its base (if only our oozing molten thoughts could look that lovely). I could dig deep in that thought-wax or carefully break off the layers of waxen drops and maybe recover some of its original context and remember what I forgot – maybe it would be like retracing our moves in the hope of remembering where we left something. All we need is one little visual petal.
Maybe brain data dropping looks more like the kind of candle that dissipates the wax and there is nothing left. In that scenario, I would know it is highly improbable that I will be able to retrieve any of the shedding information I stored for use in the next moments or hours – or forever.
Or would brains dropping data here and there look more like someone blowing hard at melted wax, making it fling in all directions? What a mess! (Do you know how hard it is to clean up wax?!) Or a candle blowing up... Okay, I agree, I am getting a little overkill (or over-waxing) going on with the metaphorical candle of “dropping data here and there,” not to mention sliding toward a violent disposition (overkill by blowing up candles...). The flower girl was much cuter and possibly less messy...possibly.
What if lost brain data did have substance, and we could see it? I wonder how high my “wax” pile would be…I could probably drown in it weekly. Or maybe I could climb it as it piled higher and see beyond to cool things…(there is another blog entirely!) Even if we could see it, I doubt we'd be able to pick out the right bit to remember what we just lost – that's just the way it is. (Unless it's three in the morning...)
I think I’ve had enough imagining for one writing segment. If I don’t watch out, I could be encouraging my brain to keep working on overtime pressure. Slow down everyone! At least when we are home and with our loved ones. Time is short. Let’s enjoy it – unrushed. And I suggest going with the petals for a visual. Much softer.
Great