A 20 minute thought experiment
Sitting in the late evening sun, watching the yachts on the river, got me thinking about how we remember.
From an early age, I had a fascination with bridges, and have never had any problem drawing one.
However, I have never in my life, in spite of repeated attempts, been able to draw a face.
Firstly, I decided to think about my thoughts.
How much control do I have over what I think, if I'm not having to think about anything in particular.
After pondering various means of coming to a decision about what to think about, I decided to open the doors of my consciousness as wide as they could go, and see what came in.
That way, maybe leads to madness.
Within about 30 seconds hundreds of thoughts flashed before me like the windows of a speeding train in the night.
So, I thought how about shutting the door and deciding not to think anything. (This is not as easy as it sounds).
So I chose to imagine I was in a dark room. This room had a door which I could open.
I thought it would be a good idea to send a message to the other side of the door, saying that I would only allow one category of thought to be inspected.
It was time to decide on the categories of thoughts I wished to entertain.
These are the categories I decided upon.
Happy
Sad
Bright
Dark
Past
Future
Sensory.
I thought about happy thoughts, but it's impossible to think about happy thoughts in the future, that is just speculation.
Sad thoughts are not a good thing to dwell on.
And so I went through the categories until I decided on a new one, colour.
I opened the door to the colour green.
I'm glad I chose that colour, because through the door streamed meadows, forests, moss covered riverbanks, dark waters, the sky in the evening just above the horizon, the walls of my favourite bedroom, and as I opened my eyes, the dark green of my leather settee.
That is as far as I got, because the 20 minute alarm rang on my phone.
