If I don’t engage with something basically every day I just forget it exists. Doesn’t matter if it’s a friend, a TV show I’m watching or working out every morning.
The one exception is when you end up on a runaway train of thought.
You go for a walk and you see a seagull, which reminds you of the last time you went to the beach, which reminds you of coconuts, which reminds you of a silly cartoon you used to watch, which reminds you of a specific day in elementary school when a kid quoted an episode, and then you start to wonder what that kid’s up to as an adult today.
And maybe you have the thought of, “I should reach out to them. I think they added me on Facebook like 15 years ago.” But then a nearby car honks. You snap out of the thought and look around. You don’t know what car honked, but you do spot a dog. It’s an uncommon breed and you can’t remember the name of it. You then spend the next minute or so either guessing the wrong breed or going down the alphabet, hoping to trigger the right name.
By the time you give up guessing and decide to look it up on your phone, you’ve completely forgotten about that kid from elementary school. The thought has vanished back into the void whence it came.
If I don’t engage with something basically every day I just forget it exists. Doesn’t matter if it’s a friend, a TV show I’m watching or working out every morning.
The one exception is when you end up on a runaway train of thought.
You go for a walk and you see a seagull, which reminds you of the last time you went to the beach, which reminds you of coconuts, which reminds you of a silly cartoon you used to watch, which reminds you of a specific day in elementary school when a kid quoted an episode, and then you start to wonder what that kid’s up to as an adult today.
And maybe you have the thought of, “I should reach out to them. I think they added me on Facebook like 15 years ago.” But then a nearby car honks. You snap out of the thought and look around. You don’t know what car honked, but you do spot a dog. It’s an uncommon breed and you can’t remember the name of it. You then spend the next minute or so either guessing the wrong breed or going down the alphabet, hoping to trigger the right name.
By the time you give up guessing and decide to look it up on your phone, you’ve completely forgotten about that kid from elementary school. The thought has vanished back into the void whence it came.
GET OUT OF MY HEAD.
I feel validated…