Human brains are the most complicated and controlling part of our entire body. I don't think any other animal has the ability to think the way we humans think.
We are able to compose and listen to all kinds of music; we have a self-awareness which enables to think about our own experiences and reflect on them, many years after they have happened. We have so many languages throughout the world that no one has been able to speak all of them. But the mere fact, that we can talk to each other, and reason together, laugh, cry, and understand why we are doing all these wonderful experiences.
Of course there have been great brains; Newton, Einstein, and all those who put our Bible together, were able to think through difficult problems, gather together writings from the past, and present a Book which keeps on having a great impact on every generation since it started being writing.
My brain has a mind of it's own. Of course by that I mean that I have control over some of what my brain does. I can reject certain thoughts, or I can dwell of certain thoughts. But the brain also takes care of a lot of my body without my even giving it a thought. Our hearts, lungs, internal organs are directly connected to our brains. The final proof that someone has died, is that their brain has stopped it's work. Many people are hooked up to machines for a long time, hoping somehow that person will still have a chance to live. But eventually, as they put it, "someone pulls out all energy that keeps these machines going, and the person then is officially pronounced dead.
I have a vivid imagination. I can use my imagination and go where I want to go, and imagine all different kinds of scenarios. Some people term this as "day dreaming". Someone will look at another person, and that person is just seeing themselves leaving work and going home and what dinner they will fix, TV shows they will be watching, or perhaps they are planning a vacation in their minds. Some people have problems with having fixations, and that is not normal. They fixate on a certain thing and they become kind of addicted to that fixation. This can happen when someone falls in love with someone else, all they do is think about that other person. Fixations can happen to a lot of people in many different ways. Some people become fixated on solving a problem, and they just can't get that problem out of their minds until they have solved it.
When I was about to retire, I asked my older sister Grace, what I could expect during my retirement years. She answered, "John, you probably will spend a lot of time reflecting on what you have already experienced." By that, she meant that I would spend a lot of time bringing back memories of people, places, and how things were done as I grew up. And that true for me; I really enjoy remembering how farmers did their work back when I was living with my grand parents. He had been a farmer most of his life, and he loved that kind of life. He was really good a being a farmer. Of course, now the farmer has changed his equipment, methods and there are not so many little farms as there was back when I was a boy. Wealthy farmers bought out the little famers, and now we see very large farms which have swallowed up many of the little farms around them. So those old skills that the little farmer had back them, are becoming obsolete, and we begin to see books of pictures of those old farmers with their way of doing things.
As I grow older my memory bank becomes full to the brink. There's just so much it can hold. But those memories seem to sneak up upon me when I'm asleep, and they are vivid, I can even remember the smell of horses, the taste of rhubarb stems which grew wild in the pastures. I would slice off a few and bring them in to my grand mother to make a rhubarb pie; she would add a lot of sugar, and when covered with a buttered crust, cutting a slice and pulling it out onto a plate, was a very inviting piece of pie.
My brains seems to have a mind of it's own. There are times when my mind just wanders around looking for those fond memories; memories which have been tucked away, trying to be forever forgotten. But, these are the ones which, when they do reappear, almost always bring up thoughts that I really have wanted to remember. Spending so much time shooting baskets at the hoop my father nailed to the old barn, at 53 Central Street, Moravia, NY. I finally did make the Varsity team, and could out run everyone else. Drilling down the court and making an easy lay-up, as those who cheered would shout out my name. Or, when we finished practicing football, dashing into the locker room, and changing clothes, to open the door to the Moravia gym, and once again, start shooting hoops in preparation for the upcoming game Friday evening.
Jogging home through the snow, finally opening the backdoor which led into the kitchen, time for coco and toast, and then upstairs to the room I would sleep in...the snow still falling and the wind picking up, those are the memories which linger, linger on when I'm 77 years old, and longer to be playing ball for Moravia, NY, one more time...
No comments:
Post a Comment