A whole bag of weird

Photo by gaspar zaldo on Unsplash

There are times my brain wanders off on its own. This results in very strange dreams and excessively strange shower- and drivetimes.

The weird dreams are fun. I don’t mind when my brain goes for a stroll when I’m asleep. Everyone has had dreams of falling. Common wisdom tells you that if you hit the ground, you die. You always wake up.

Nope! Not I! I’ve hit the ground almost every time I’ve had the dream. I clearly remember the times I woke up because the times I didn’t wake happened far more often. So what happens? I either bounce or fly. Either way, during the fall, I relax and enjoy the free-fall. The ending is equally enjoyable.

The non-dream weirdness is sort of like a grab bag at a jumble sale: some of it fun and useful and some absolute trash. Some of it is utterly terrifying!

Stream-of-consciousness brainstorming can be fun. If I have an issue in need of a solution, like a process I need to streamline or a project to plan, I let my mind wander. Usually, eventually, a plan of action forms.

I wish that process worked for major life issues, but I can’t seem to make it work. My apologies to Tim Gunn.

The fun bits come when I hear or read something that triggers odd thoughts while I’m in the shower or driving to work. Most recently it’s been ads or a chicklit book that trigger these flights of fancy. For instance, there’s an ad that talks about “functional mushrooms.” Is there such a thing as a dysfunctional mushroom? A non-functional mushroom?

I can be overwhelmed. I can be underwhelmed. Can I be whelmed? I can imprint but can I outprint? Print out — yes. Outprint — no. Why not?

I can be impressed. I can be unimpressed. Those have opposite meanings, but there is no neutral form. I can’t be pressed by a presentation or a statement.

Yep, it’s just a whole bag of weird up there.