Wandering Aimlessly - Mind over Matter?
Sometimes I find myself wandering aimlessly. Sometimes it is about whether mind over matter has substance or it is the physical wandering without direction.
When I adventure into mind space, I find freedom in my thought. I like to lose myself in my subconscious, thinking of what might be, what could be and how to get there. Or, I think of what has been and why. These mind adventures relax me. They help me produce in my work and my play. I know some of my friends may wonder if maybe I am always lost in some far away world. Obviously with my sad sack sense of humor, there are reasons for that perception.
Those times I am just wandering around the city, there are fewer rewards and perhaps more questions, especially by myself.
No, I am not a lost soul, lost wanderer, or ancient mariner. Just a writer or communicator of some sort. Wandering and observing is what makes some of us tick (or so I think).
I really don't know how it happens. Take the other day, I was headed to Walmart to get some stuff for the townhouse. I picked up the groceries and other odds and ends. And, then I found myself at Barnes and Noble, looking at magazines and books. Now, the bookstore is right beside Walmart in Sioux Falls (SD), but I didn't plan to go to Barnes and Noble, I just ended up there. Maybe, it is all those words and unread books that drew me there. I often say, there is a bigger power that pulls me into bookstores. Maybe it is simply that I believe knowledge is king and one can never have too much wisdom (now be nice my friends, I know what you are thinking....).
As I am walking about in the bookstore, I pick up my copy of the New Yorker and a couple of college football preview magazines and then something pulls me back to the history section. Of course, I only read nonfiction and am a voracious reader of World War II material, but even with five books I wanted speaking to me, "pick me, pick me," like the devil and the angel chiding Adam Sandler in "Little Nicky," I kept moving, not understanding where I was going and what kept my feet moving.
In the writing section, something inside me said I needed to find a book on unusual words but there were so many different books....my hands stayed by my sides. Soon I found myself in the sports section, looking at books of my heroes like former Detroit Tiger baseball player Al Kaline, Yankee superstar Mickey Mantle, Johnny U., and one about Myron Cope, the great Steelers announcer. But, I didn't pick up any of those books either. Must be a sale coming up I thought. Then, I found myself in my Ford Escape, traveling down Western Avenue to Bracco's for lunch. What?
I think we all find ourselves in some kind wandering state at some point. It might be daydreaming through class, watching the robin perch on a branch from your townhouse, or staring at the open field, amazed by the amount of water that is enveloping the countryside as you travel down I-29.
There must be some productive results from the mind wandering. One of them isn't why we drift off. I do believe one of the rewards of freedom of thought is that it allows you to generate some jewels; like ideas for a story, answers to how to fix the car, or a new approach to a planning document for a business prospect. Or, maybe it is a useless nugget like coming up with the name of that long-ago baseball player that struck out four times in an inning (not sure if that happened), as the answer to a radio quiz show. .
One day, I was enjoying the sweet tasting Au lait at my coffee hangout in Sioux Falls, Coffea, when my mind took off to unknown regions. Funny, it is the coffee shop where I can slip off into mind travels away from the real traffic of Sioux Falls, S.D., where I might be screaming at other drivers or in a parking lot wondering why there isn't any spaces for me to park.
I find something relaxing and free in the coffee shop environment. I am able to open my mind and write. I can produce a lot of copy in a place like Coffea or Latte Da in Vermillion. I think the personal touch they offer gives me comfort and allows me to relax, opening my subconscious. In those moments I find things that help my computer sings as a rhythm to my work builds.
Sometimes, the drifting into mind space is about some past time - a moment when I get a little adrenaline rush and a quick shiver of a cherished memory involving someone that has gone too soon (like my dad). Or it might be of the time I first rode a horse and nearly broke my neck or when I felt the joy of hitting a baseball for the first time. I smile. As I look across the coffee shop, I see a few stares directed my way, but I don't care, the trip was worth it and a reward of mind travel.
As I look around Coffea, people from all walks of life --some students, some business, some I don't know what they do -- walk past me. As I sit there, my mind continues to drift, going from one thought or scene to another. I think it might be that way with extroverts. Sometimes we get lost in our own thought. Then, like a South Dakota wind, in a split second, we change directions. We pop out of it, say hello to someone we have never met.
I love to meet new people. I find a real joy in hearing about the adventures of others, from young people to those that have a bit of experience on their sleeves. I believe this too is a reward of mind travel because in thought we wonder about the unknown.
In a weird sort of way, all of this helps me as a writer. Maybe it is confusing to the reader, what I am speaking through the written word. Maybe as you read this blog you wonder why you are reading this dribble, this rambling, unfocused garble. Maybe, but I don't think so.
This mind travel happens to me in all sorts of situations and places. When I go for a walk with my English Springer Spaniel, Sierra, I carry a recorder because I have learned that I come up with ideas and thoughts on these physical excursions. Or, when I am working out on my upstairs stationary bike, I have that recorder handy because the pedaling, the sweat, the rock and roll video - something draws out my inspiration and creativity. I can find myself in pastures of my past or contemplating a new idea or wondering if the rock video of "Lunatic Fringe" by Red Rider -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTFVMMCwsss&NR=1 really has substance.
In "Thinking Write" by Kelly L. Stone, she writes that nature, music, physical exercise all offer creative types a release to open their minds and think without borders. She quotes Jax Cassidy, author of "The Lotus Blossom Chronicles:" "The natural environment invigorates me and helps me come up with new ideas for my story." Right on Jax.
For Stone, these forays into nature, exercise or music, open the mind to mind exploration.
Yes, I think she is right, in part. But so much of this brain flight is unexplained. I don't think there is an answer why any of us drift. Some of us doing it purposely. We need to find that mind space to do our work. We have to let our minds do their thing. Others, the mind travel is just a part of being human. Thinking gives us freedom to dwell in the unknown, to find answers, to create and then come back to reality.
So it is then, we all get lost in thought.
As somebody snaps their fingers and says, "hey Dan, snap out of it; come down to planet Earth," you are back -- at least for a moment.
A little Pointer...
USD-Springfield was a state-supported institution in Springfield, S.D., founded in 1881 and closed in 1984 to become the Mike Durfee State Prison. While USD-Springfield had its grand athletic moments, its nickname of "Pointers" always has interested me. It (Pointers) represented an area of South Dakota famous for hunting, particularly pheasants. Pointer referred to a hunting dog symbol created in 1924 and the logo was redesigned in 1968 by a student, Charles Raymond, to "liven it up a bit and represent the less serene attitude of students" at what was Southern State Teacher's College, according to Ray Frank's book, "What's In a Nickname."
Nice point.
A spitballing, five-out guy...
Clarence Elmer Mitchell was born on Feb. 22, 1891 in Franklin, Neb., and is thought to be the last of the spitballers, who had their hey day in the pre-1920s. A winner of 125 games (139 losses), Mitchell played in the majors from 1911-1932 for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, New York Giants, Brooklyn Robins, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. After the spitball was outlawed in 1920, he was one of 17 pitchers allowed to continue to throw the pitch and is believed to be the last legal left-handed spitball throwing pitcher. His greatest and worst baseball distinction may be that he made a record five outs in two at-bats during the 1920 World Series against the Cleveland Indians. In game five of the World Series, he hit into an unassisted triple play. His rising liner was caught by Cleveland Indians second baseman Bill Wambsganss, who doubled off the lead runner and tagged a runner between first and second base. To make things worse, in his next at bat Mitchell grounded into a double play, making five outs in two at-bats, a World Series record.
When I adventure into mind space, I find freedom in my thought. I like to lose myself in my subconscious, thinking of what might be, what could be and how to get there. Or, I think of what has been and why. These mind adventures relax me. They help me produce in my work and my play. I know some of my friends may wonder if maybe I am always lost in some far away world. Obviously with my sad sack sense of humor, there are reasons for that perception.
Those times I am just wandering around the city, there are fewer rewards and perhaps more questions, especially by myself.
No, I am not a lost soul, lost wanderer, or ancient mariner. Just a writer or communicator of some sort. Wandering and observing is what makes some of us tick (or so I think).
I really don't know how it happens. Take the other day, I was headed to Walmart to get some stuff for the townhouse. I picked up the groceries and other odds and ends. And, then I found myself at Barnes and Noble, looking at magazines and books. Now, the bookstore is right beside Walmart in Sioux Falls (SD), but I didn't plan to go to Barnes and Noble, I just ended up there. Maybe, it is all those words and unread books that drew me there. I often say, there is a bigger power that pulls me into bookstores. Maybe it is simply that I believe knowledge is king and one can never have too much wisdom (now be nice my friends, I know what you are thinking....).
As I am walking about in the bookstore, I pick up my copy of the New Yorker and a couple of college football preview magazines and then something pulls me back to the history section. Of course, I only read nonfiction and am a voracious reader of World War II material, but even with five books I wanted speaking to me, "pick me, pick me," like the devil and the angel chiding Adam Sandler in "Little Nicky," I kept moving, not understanding where I was going and what kept my feet moving.
In the writing section, something inside me said I needed to find a book on unusual words but there were so many different books....my hands stayed by my sides. Soon I found myself in the sports section, looking at books of my heroes like former Detroit Tiger baseball player Al Kaline, Yankee superstar Mickey Mantle, Johnny U., and one about Myron Cope, the great Steelers announcer. But, I didn't pick up any of those books either. Must be a sale coming up I thought. Then, I found myself in my Ford Escape, traveling down Western Avenue to Bracco's for lunch. What?
I think we all find ourselves in some kind wandering state at some point. It might be daydreaming through class, watching the robin perch on a branch from your townhouse, or staring at the open field, amazed by the amount of water that is enveloping the countryside as you travel down I-29.
There must be some productive results from the mind wandering. One of them isn't why we drift off. I do believe one of the rewards of freedom of thought is that it allows you to generate some jewels; like ideas for a story, answers to how to fix the car, or a new approach to a planning document for a business prospect. Or, maybe it is a useless nugget like coming up with the name of that long-ago baseball player that struck out four times in an inning (not sure if that happened), as the answer to a radio quiz show. .
One day, I was enjoying the sweet tasting Au lait at my coffee hangout in Sioux Falls, Coffea, when my mind took off to unknown regions. Funny, it is the coffee shop where I can slip off into mind travels away from the real traffic of Sioux Falls, S.D., where I might be screaming at other drivers or in a parking lot wondering why there isn't any spaces for me to park.
I find something relaxing and free in the coffee shop environment. I am able to open my mind and write. I can produce a lot of copy in a place like Coffea or Latte Da in Vermillion. I think the personal touch they offer gives me comfort and allows me to relax, opening my subconscious. In those moments I find things that help my computer sings as a rhythm to my work builds.
Sometimes, the drifting into mind space is about some past time - a moment when I get a little adrenaline rush and a quick shiver of a cherished memory involving someone that has gone too soon (like my dad). Or it might be of the time I first rode a horse and nearly broke my neck or when I felt the joy of hitting a baseball for the first time. I smile. As I look across the coffee shop, I see a few stares directed my way, but I don't care, the trip was worth it and a reward of mind travel.
As I look around Coffea, people from all walks of life --some students, some business, some I don't know what they do -- walk past me. As I sit there, my mind continues to drift, going from one thought or scene to another. I think it might be that way with extroverts. Sometimes we get lost in our own thought. Then, like a South Dakota wind, in a split second, we change directions. We pop out of it, say hello to someone we have never met.
I love to meet new people. I find a real joy in hearing about the adventures of others, from young people to those that have a bit of experience on their sleeves. I believe this too is a reward of mind travel because in thought we wonder about the unknown.
In a weird sort of way, all of this helps me as a writer. Maybe it is confusing to the reader, what I am speaking through the written word. Maybe as you read this blog you wonder why you are reading this dribble, this rambling, unfocused garble. Maybe, but I don't think so.
This mind travel happens to me in all sorts of situations and places. When I go for a walk with my English Springer Spaniel, Sierra, I carry a recorder because I have learned that I come up with ideas and thoughts on these physical excursions. Or, when I am working out on my upstairs stationary bike, I have that recorder handy because the pedaling, the sweat, the rock and roll video - something draws out my inspiration and creativity. I can find myself in pastures of my past or contemplating a new idea or wondering if the rock video of "Lunatic Fringe" by Red Rider -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTFVMMCwsss&NR=1 really has substance.
In "Thinking Write" by Kelly L. Stone, she writes that nature, music, physical exercise all offer creative types a release to open their minds and think without borders. She quotes Jax Cassidy, author of "The Lotus Blossom Chronicles:" "The natural environment invigorates me and helps me come up with new ideas for my story." Right on Jax.
For Stone, these forays into nature, exercise or music, open the mind to mind exploration.
Yes, I think she is right, in part. But so much of this brain flight is unexplained. I don't think there is an answer why any of us drift. Some of us doing it purposely. We need to find that mind space to do our work. We have to let our minds do their thing. Others, the mind travel is just a part of being human. Thinking gives us freedom to dwell in the unknown, to find answers, to create and then come back to reality.
So it is then, we all get lost in thought.
As somebody snaps their fingers and says, "hey Dan, snap out of it; come down to planet Earth," you are back -- at least for a moment.
A little Pointer...
USD-Springfield was a state-supported institution in Springfield, S.D., founded in 1881 and closed in 1984 to become the Mike Durfee State Prison. While USD-Springfield had its grand athletic moments, its nickname of "Pointers" always has interested me. It (Pointers) represented an area of South Dakota famous for hunting, particularly pheasants. Pointer referred to a hunting dog symbol created in 1924 and the logo was redesigned in 1968 by a student, Charles Raymond, to "liven it up a bit and represent the less serene attitude of students" at what was Southern State Teacher's College, according to Ray Frank's book, "What's In a Nickname."
Nice point.
A spitballing, five-out guy...
Clarence Elmer Mitchell was born on Feb. 22, 1891 in Franklin, Neb., and is thought to be the last of the spitballers, who had their hey day in the pre-1920s. A winner of 125 games (139 losses), Mitchell played in the majors from 1911-1932 for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, New York Giants, Brooklyn Robins, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. After the spitball was outlawed in 1920, he was one of 17 pitchers allowed to continue to throw the pitch and is believed to be the last legal left-handed spitball throwing pitcher. His greatest and worst baseball distinction may be that he made a record five outs in two at-bats during the 1920 World Series against the Cleveland Indians. In game five of the World Series, he hit into an unassisted triple play. His rising liner was caught by Cleveland Indians second baseman Bill Wambsganss, who doubled off the lead runner and tagged a runner between first and second base. To make things worse, in his next at bat Mitchell grounded into a double play, making five outs in two at-bats, a World Series record.
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