Let Me Rephrase That…

On numerous occasions my brain (click the picture on right to see larger version) and its contents have popped up quizzically in conversation. This is a subject which – for future reference – really isn’t wise to explore. Not because it’s filled with skeletons or secrets of apocalyptic proportions, but because it’s confusing. Very confusing.

You see, my brain is particularly active and creative and has numerous trains of thought running through it at the same time. Many of which aren’t related in the slightest but could be called upon and explored at any point during conversation should a visual, audio or any other trigger send it off in that direction.

This can be incredibly amusing but can also be immensely confusing for whomever it is I’m conversing with, and invariably ends up with me having to explain what it is I’m talking about and how on earth I can possibly link two completely unrelated entities.

Recently I found myself trying to explain to a friend, to hopefully shed some light and a tiny bit of clarity to this understandably unexplored synapse-jungle, what my brain was like in the simplest of terms. Probably doomed to failure from the outset, the best I could come up with was a cross between an Eddie Izzard show and a Boris Johnson interview or speech; the sense that, at any point, the conversation could veer off wildly for an indeterminate amount of time about something completely random while my brain deciphers and projects what it has stumbled upon…all the while trying to make sure I don’t say something stupid – this, I’m not so good at.

In itself this is not why my brain and thoughts shouldn’t be explored too deeply, but because of the mountainous regions of contradictory information and thoughts, which, strangely, live happily next to one another. In my brain…they mesh together nicely. To other people, however, it might be considered weird. I’m not, for one moment, suggesting I am some rare and undiscovered species, that would be preposterous. It would probably be better to think of my brain like quantum physics. It’s understood by like-minded people – you, perhaps – who are familiar and understanding of it, but to the majority of the populace it will usually end up with a headache and lots of “Err. What?”

I am single (which has no real relevance other than to slightly illustrate my next point) and I can honestly say I would feel sorry, in a funny way, for any lass who had to endure my thought processes for any length of time. Now, you must understand this is not for self-pity or in an attempt to put myself down, but I live with me and I’d drive myself up the wall! I’m happy with my brain but to have these thoughts, theories, opinions etc all the time, while not knowing what’s going on in my head, would be amusingly annoying!

Ultimately, like the Izzard shows, these tangents and random links can be hilarious if you don’t explore the ‘why?’ too much and just go with it – even just smile and nod, I won’t mind. So next time you’re watching one of my videos on YouTube or are reading one of my blog entries, don’t try and think about what it is I’m thinking about…because not even I know that most of the time.

I think the best way to sum up and end this entry is to quote what the brilliant Tim Minchin once sang…

This is my brain and it’s fine, it’s where I spend the vast majority of my time, it’s not perfect but it’s mine.

That’ll do I think. I keep meaning to post about architects and Apple – this isn’t going to be the start of an alphabetically ordered blogging theme, don’t worry. Perhaps that’s a job for tomorrow?

digg it