As I Think About It

Ideas and thoughts are strange things. Normally, I don’t give their presence in my mind a second thought, but there are times when I wonder what business they have hanging out there.

Without bragging, I would say that my thoughts sometimes are winged and behave like birds. There are, for example, moments when a thought flies into my mind as fast as a Peregrine falcon. I immediately start looking for pen and paper, but when I finally find them, all visible traces of that bird are always gone.

Just like owls, looking clever while sitting half asleep on a branch, I often try to look as though I am participating in a conversation. Meanwhile, my mind is secretly processing stuff that happened half a century ago.

Ravens are famous for their smartness. Their impressive thought processes allow them to use tools. Likewise, only last month, I successfully used a ladle to get a spoon out from underneath a stove. I wish I could have such raven-like moments more often, but those birds are clever and mostly stay out of my reach.

Just like there are birds that don’t fly, I have thoughts that definitely stay on the ground. When I share an interesting idea and people look at me, frown and say, “Seriously?” I know how it feels for an ostrich, running around with useless wings.

When I get nervous or panic, my thoughts appear in murmurations, like starlings do. They sweep back and forth in my mind in groups of thousands. What I call my “starling moments,” is what bird experts call “controlled chaos.”

Some thoughts stay permanently in my mind. Just like crows have their favorite trees, these thoughts have picked my mind for nesting. They take up a lot of space and are extremely messy and noisy.

The thought of drones comes to my mind. I wish I had a mental remote control with which I could control my thoughts’ movements by changing the position of their wings. I would make some thoughts come close and others fly far away.

But, of course, that’s just a thought…