Brain Fart

It's surprising to me.

This entire week, I had multiple conversations with people around the topic that I wanted to write about. I spoke to friends, I IM'd about it, I read, and I even pulled aside family during our family BBQ to get their thoughts. But as I sat down to begin writing it, though my head was full of thoughts on the subject, nothing was coming out.

So I waited a few hours to try again, and still, nothing happened. My mind refused to put together the complex thoughts and arguments needed in a cohesive manner. I'm interested in re-reading this blog, because I don't think it will be very coherent. But I made a commitment to adding one a week, so I feel the need to persevere.

I had a complete and total brain fart.

In layman's terms, a brain fart is when you are trying to think on a specific topic, and you seem to be doing it just fine, but you just freeze and are unable to continue thinking. They usually come up when you are taking a test that you've studied for or are interviewing for a job that you are more than qualified for. Strangely, my brain fart definitely puts my mind at ease, because I am far too prone to taking myself too seriously, and I'm very thankful that my mind sometimes cannot do what I want it to. Once you think you know everything, you tend to stop listening to everyone else.

People often try to stop thinking as an excuse to overindulge. You want to stop thinking when you are out drinking with your friends so you can avoid feeling guilty about what you are about to do. This is not what I'm saying. Thinking helps people to discover what is good, loving, and positive to do, and it can help you learn different ways of enjoying it, but I wonder if it should stop their sometimes.

Thinking too much gets in the way of living well. There are times when you need to just sit back and stare blankly into the beyond, to pull close your loved one and just enjoy the feel of their head on your arm, to dance to the song that comes up on your iTunes, or to roar at your children from deep within your chest as you play Hot Lava Monster. These are some of those rare moments where you know you are living well and just need to be present in it.

Sometimes, you need to just not think and simply be. 


The ironic thing is I might be wrong here, because I cannot really think well about it. But it feels right, and I hope it is. I do enjoy these moments where my thoughts are quiet and I can just lean back and sigh. I am content. 

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An apology to everyone who I have been talking to about the topic that I wanted to write about this week. It has been postponed, but not forgotten.