Patterns

I can’t make up my mind. Do you think it is better for us humans to be totally alone with our thoughts, or would it be better if we could share thoughts with others? I wouldn’t want my thoughts to be out there for all to read as soon as I thought them. That could cause more than one slap in the face daily and I would be friendless in a day.

Often I think that something a friend or loved one is doing or saying is stupid, or even borderline insane, but I keep my mouth closed so that I can keep my friends. I am sure they are doing the same thing for me, only much more often. The truth will set you free! Free of friends, family and casual acquaintances. No, it is much better if we could share only those thoughts that we know won’t upset anyone. Maybe that is what we have now, it’s called language.

I suppose it is for the best, but I like the idea that some things could be shared and understood universally. When I ask you to think of a tree, I mean a big old maple tree with the leaves gently swaying in the breeze. Not an evergreen tree frosted with snow, surrounded by other similarly frosted trees with a mountain or two in the background. That is the kind of thought sharing I am talking about.

We just don’t know from one minute to the next if the person we are talking to actually understands the idea we are trying to get across. I have that trouble all of the time. I have an idea in my head, but when I attempt to share the idea they either don’t get it or they will make an assumption about what I mean. There is a possibility that I am just a moron and nothing I say makes any sense at all.

I wanted to talk about patterns when I started today. When I look at marble or printed cloth, leaves and swirls in the sand, I see patterns. Mostly I see faces and cartoon like beings that are involved in all manner of silly activities. Whenever I ask someone if they see the little guy with the watermelon shaped nose and pointy chin I always get the same response.

“Where?”

“There!”

“No, I don’t see that, but I do see a paisley swirl.”

“Ohhhh”

 Do you see the image of John Lennon with his glasses on his forehead? The hippie climbing a cliff? The Troll? Long faced monkey?

I don’t have that discussion very often anymore; maybe I should try with the grandkids. I suspect that most everyone sees patterns all around them. Some just ignore them, some see them and can’t explain what they see and don’t have the ability to sketch them, while a very few see the patterns and paint them. I guess there are mathematical patterns that can be seen as well as musical. Words make patterns which is why there are stories inside of stories, inside of stories.

I am going to take a pencil and pad with me from now on, so that I can either describe or draw the patterns I see in the world. They aren’t anything special probably, but what if they are…