Choosing What to Fill Our Minds With
Last evening at a dinner party as the conversation turned to the Academy Awards, I realized just how little I knew about movies and actors and how little I actually cared! Whereas I could name 20 good books I had read over the past year or so, I couldn't tell you who most of the recent awards went to or explain why some people are complaining about the fact that "Crash" won. My husband, on the other hand, is an avid movie buff, often watching a movie after I go to bed.After this discussion and my recent revelations about how little I know about the fashion industry, I started to take an inventory of just what it is that I choose to pay attention to, to remember, to fill my head with. The scary truth is that I see myself becoming more and more like my father, whose mind sort of played its own unique tune, quite unlike that of anyone around him. He actually spent a lot of his life inventing things that mostly never came to fruition, but his mind was active until the day he died.
So if it's not movies or fashion or popular music or sports that occupy my mind, what is up there? I took an inventory and here's what I found:
– The ability to says lots of things not only in English, but also in Spanish, French, German, Norwegian, Hebrew, and even Latin.
– Memories of most of the books I have ever read.
– Lots of poetry references.
– Ideas about gourmet and international cooking.
– How to make just about anything in the way of arts & crafts.
– A whole library of classical music.
– Lyrics to just about all the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel songs.
– Genealogy, going centuries back in Norway.
– Telephone numbers.
– Bible stories.
– Math puzzles and number patterns.
– City road grids (for cities I have visited).
– Hebrew trope.
– All the rules of grammar.
At this point, there is nothing in the list that I want to give up in order to make space for more current and socially acceptable information. I suppose we all make choices...
Is your mind in sync with those around you or do you have your own set of priorities?
posted by Barbara at 1:06 PM
4 Comments:
I think it's safe to say I have my own list of priorities. I don't choose what to learn and what to ignore - it's just that some stuff stick in my brain more (how to roll a joint for instance) than other stuff which just falls out of my brain (anything politics related.)
I have a lot of really random things inside my head. I don't even know if I could organize it enough to make a list! I still remember the phone numbers of all my childhood friends, back when we had 5-digit dialing.
I retain entirely too much from books, movies and random conversations, but I can never remember the names of people or things. I need to work on that.
Falling in with the mainstream has never been my forte. I'm sure you know that! All the rules of grammar - yes! - me, too!
All of you made the observation that it is not a matter of choice, but rather what naturally "sticks" in our minds and we are all somewhat unique. Fortunately there is no final exam on politics or people's names or movie stars. The beauty of it is that I know where to go when I want a joint rolled to perfection or when I want my Tarot cards read or when I do want to know about movies -- after all, what are friends for?
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