There is something that I have discovered the last week or so - if you do not have some idea or concept that fascinates you, your brain is going to go to some stupid places for stimulation during the busy times of the day. Old browser games I'm never going to play again, situations I'm never going to encounter again, jokes I told that weren't that great even when they were fresh; I find my mind playing them over and over again. Mental masturbation.
If you imagine thought as being like a
geography, then contemplating new ideas and new perspectives is like adding territory to your estate, contemplating old ideas that have not been fully explored and that continue to inform your life and philosophy is like surveying and improving your territory, contemplating old ideas that were never important is like counting tiles in your house.
I feel like I'm constantly "counting tiles in my house". By this I mean...I rehash old memories and moments in my head over and over throughout the day. Never dwelling on anything specifically, but my mind will daze back on a day that I viewed as happy (most often) or a situation that still has me upset (less often). Anywho...the brain is funny in that we constantly are thinking SOMETHING. There really is never a moment when you're thinking about nothing, because even thinking "I'm thinking about nothing" is thinking about something!
ReplyDeleteWhat is so fascinating to me is where your mind ends up going when you let it wander. Like today I started rehashing an old wrestling story I could have done on a browser game I played years ago. It's comforting, on one hand, to have those tethers that keep you connected with your past. On the other hand, sometimes your mind fixates on the (seemingly) dumbest stuff.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, though, there is no real thinking about nothing. I believe certain kinds of meditation aim at quieting conscious thought, but then you would never know that you were in that state while you were in it. You could only look back and say that your mind was blank. It's exhausting in a way, sometimes you want to be able to let the brain rest!