Think Out Loud



Time once again for Think Out Loud, a weekly meme hosted by the awesomeness that is Thinks Books. The purpose of Think Out Loud is for book bloggers to think outside the square and post about any topic they like. And so, this week, I am going to give the answer to a frequently asked question:

Question: Are you lost?

Answer: No, I am not. Despite the fact that people keep asking. The more insensitive the person, I have discovered, the more likely they are to ask. And then laugh, as though they have just said the funniest thing in the whole world. The thing is, I'm a bit of a deep thinker and a daydreamer. I'm quite happy to gaze into space for minutes on end while I contemplate anything from the meaning of life to whether or not grey is the most suitable colour for the carpet in the post office. (Personally, I think that navy blue would look quite spiffy against the backdrop of the red and white Australia Post logo. But then again, people who use words like spiffy aren't generally trusted with any kind of decisions regarding interior decorating.) Or the best kind of deep thinking, when I'm lost in thought about a new and complex plot twist for my next novel. 

Anyway, it seems that some others don't share my capacity for deep thought and assume that every time I start to think I've lost either my mind or my marbles (or perhaps my mind and my marbles,) or am suffering from some strange type of amnesia that can only be cured by ridicule. Then again, I shouldn't complain too much. Worse are the people who accuse me of staring--I'm at the point now where I don't even bother arguing or trying to explain myself to someone who accuses me of staring. (Nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of a thousand, I'm not staring, but looking in the general direction of someone or something while I think about something far more interesting. But try telling that to say a customer who thinks that I've just watched them enter their PIN into a Eftpos machine because my eyes were turned in that vague direction--easier just to crack a joke about never being able to remember my own let alone anyone else's. Or someone who thinks I am staring because I'm secretly in love with them. Or because I'm insane. Or insane and in love with them, who knows?)

Sometimes, I wish I could just tune the deep thinking out and interact with others on a totally shallow level and pretend the most complex thought I've had is wondering what the weather may do, or if I should bake sausage rolls for dinner, but the thing is, I'm just too interested in thinking about things. Maybe I need to brush up on my social skills and I definitely should stop giving others the impression that I stare at them (I need to learn how to avert my eyes whilst daydreaming,) as it isn't right or fair to make someone feel uncomfortable, even unintentionally. But deep thinking isn't something that I can just turn off and I'm not even sure that I want to.

Comments

Think said…
This was profound. And spiffy!
21 February 2013 at 13:54
Kathryn White said…
Thank you! I'm glad you thought my post was spiffy, Think.
21 February 2013 at 19:50
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