There are little things I’ve been paying attention to. One is, the idea of nothing. My own various definitions or associations of the word, like we “sat and talked about nothing.” What does this really mean to me? Our intention is simply in enjoying each other’s company. Let the chips fly where they may. Nothing soon changes its mind and becomes hyperactive.
I love the act of making associations.
My head was in a good place this morning. I was philosophizing. I’d saw the phrase Rest Assured in the bathroom and ran a word association in my head. I thought of its meaning and it’s antonym, which is to be uneasy, unatease, even to have insomnia, to stay up half the night worrying over something, to be so heartbroken over a girl you can hardly sleep. Rest Assured is to alleviate all that. Then I got to thinking about what conversations are, what they consist of. Asking questions, telling stories, sharing ideas, confiding secrets, seeking help, and so on. A good conversation engages more than one of these aspects, perhaps. If, for example, I only told you about Dostoevsky and nothing else, you’d probably tire of me very quickly. But if I mixed it up a bit with my own ideas, my own stories, etc., this might really enliven the subject matter. This is the way I presented him in my philosophy class. I started out with my own bloody nose experience as a way to set the mood for Dostoevsky’s stories, talking about how when reading, the reader starts to identify with the characters in such a way that he or she imagines themselves to be walking around as the author’s characters. Dostoevsky has that power.
It is later in the day now, the sun is on my monitor making it hard to see what I’m typing. I’m in love with the format of marking basic observations and will push on with it to the very end. It is a good day for a mellow bike ride.
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