ATOM feed
I was over at Judith’s place Not Dead Yet -Judith always has the best little knick-knacks and stories that go with them, and I promised to post pics of my find in the Gloucester Museum when we were down there last month.Apparently they were made locally, and very popular with the pioneer women. I think it's fascinating, I've never seen anything like it!
And after my thoughts recently about relaxing and stress; I went looking through some of my early materials to help with meditation and that sort of thing. Found some good stuff, this is one I always thought was really funny, it's been around a while, but worth a reprint, I reckon.
The Thinking Man
It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then to loosen up. Inevitably though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker.
I began to think alone -- "to relax," I told myself -- but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time.
I began to think on the job. I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself. I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka.
I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we are doing here?"
Things weren't going so great at home either. One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's.
I soon had a reputation as a heavy thinker. One day the boss called me in. He said, "Skippy, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job." This gave me a lot to think about.
I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confessed, "I've been thinking..."
"I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!"
"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."
"It is serious," she said, lower lip a quiver. "You think as much as college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking we won't have any money!"
"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently, and she began to cry.
I'd had enough. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door.
I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche, with NPR on the radio. I roared into the parking lot and ran up to the big glass doors... they didn't open. The library was closed.
To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night.
As I sank to the ground clawing at the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye. "Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked. You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinker's Anonymous poster.
Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker. I never miss a TA meeting. At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's." Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.
I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home. Life just seemed... easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking.
4 Comments
You're right - the pictures are great. I've always wanted to live in a house in which it would be appropriate to have old 'kitchenalia' like that. As a small child I did, but now I'm in a 1960s standard semi.
I reckon you could rewrite The Thinking Man for me, but substituting 'blogging' for thinking. After a year of getting into gear, I find I'm blog focussed most of the time.
I think (pun intended) a lot of people must attend those meetings!
Nice post, maybe a thinking post. ……………….. I think the thinking person is lonely -most don’t give it a moments thought, but me thinks your thinking all the time ….. that's what I think but what do you think!!
Best wishes
My blood preasure should be right then.. love my chocolate
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