You know how everyone has one of those places that they go to think? I've noticed lately how they vary from person to person just due to individual preferences. I have friends that can think clearly in the middle of total chaos. I have friends that have to shut doors and have absolute silence to think clearly. You can tell a lot about a person by the place that he or she likes to think.
I have several conclusions about the environments that I think best in:
1. I cannot think well in places that are really loud. Like the kitchen. This is where I do all my school. I wonder if I would get more done if I moved to a different spot...
2. I cannot think well in really messy places-- messes distract me almost as much as noises. Guess what room is really messy? The kitchen.
3. I can think well in my room whether it is clean or messy. For some reason, it doesn't really matter.
4. Thinking in the car is very easy. I have the best conversations with myself in the car.
5. It is easier for me to think outside than it is inside.
I have lots of wonderful places to think, but by far, the best one is the red swing.
The red swing is always there when we go up to the mountains. It is between two trees on a hill, so when you swing on it, you are launched out over the hill and you can see everything. It is very peaceful. It doesn't matter whether you just sit on the swing, or whether you swing really high-- it is really easy to think with a cool breeze on your face and the sun on your back. I'm not sure what makes it so easy to think there, but I'm almost convinced that has a lot to do with the fact that the swing is red. A brown swing just doesn't seem to be as conducive to thinking...
2 comments:
Before I die I shall make a hajj to your mountain habitation so I can meditate on your swing. I covet that thing!
I have a ridiculously specialized hierarchy of thinking places, all specific to different types of thought:
For math/science: the desk in my "study" (formerly known as "my brother's bedroom").
For humanities-ish stuff: Stretched out in my yard with a pencil in my hand (even if I don't use it, I really can't think without the pencil).
For writing: The computer desk.
For meditating and thinking harmonious, pleasing thoughts: Up in this tree that hangs over the lake near my house. One of these days I am going to fall out of that thing and die and a bunch of harmonious thoughts will ooze out of me.
For praying: My blue chair by the window besides my bed.
For emotional breakdowns: The woods behind my house. Fortunately, I only trek out there about once a year.
For being struck by absolute profundities: The shower. Always and only the shower.
During the ACT, I discovered something about my ability to think well in different environments.
I can think perfectly well in total silence or in total chaos.
I cannot, however, think well when I am trying to read a difficult science section and the boy one seat behind me and one seat to the left insists upon tapping his fingers on his desk in a rhythmic motion.
I think it is the monotonous rhythm that hinders my thinking ability. I would be just as frustrated if I were trying to read something delightful in a room with a faucet that went drip drip drip drip drip.
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