On doing nothing

[daepp]

Silence can be golden at times.

And after 32 years of marriage I know this to be a fact: she doesn't want to know "how" it works. Doesn't hardly matter what "it" is, or what it took to fix it/operate it etc. She just want's to know if it works.

[Tervuren]

This issue probably has a lot to do with why I'm single.

I like to think out in space. When I have a finished space craft capable of re-entry I'll talk about if I know have a willing listener.

Rapidly asking what I'm thinking causes rapid atmospheric entry of an shielded space craft. Typically the re-entry burn just leaves floating indistinct ashes of whatever I was thinking. Sometimes with a lingering feeling that it was really really important.

I wasn't this way as much until I moved into machine programming, and it is even stronger now that I do R&D.

There are other people I know that are ok with enjoying silence around other people. Not many.

I find the best way to approach someone like this is to NOT ASK QUESTIONS; comment, prattle, but don't expect answers. Initiate talk without being mentally invasive.

[tabs]

Sitting and thinking quietly and talking about something are two different things. The first is meditative and the second is communicative.

The fact that a number of you confuse the two is rather illustrative.

And yes when faced with a dilemma or problem talking about is therapeutic in that it allows us to lay out problem, make sense of it and come to a conclusion. That essentially is what cognitive Thearpy is all about and why it is successful. You need the sounding board of another person who is more or less objective. People with whom you have personal relationships have a stake in the game and are not necessarily unbiased.

[tabs]

Doing nothing is in fact do something. Sitting quietly and thinking allows you to get in touch with how you really feel and or think..as it lets subconscious thoughts rise in a stream of conciousness..it allows you to put the world in some kind of order or narrative..

When I post on this Board you are just getting a glimpse of what and how I think, and know. My set pieces are streams of conscious..first drafts with minor revisions of a word or two. I generally have an idea and just go in that direction. Constructing each line as I go. Many times I don't quiet end up where I started.

Without elaborating I can sum it up and say that I am always in a meditative state no matter what I am doing. I can also switch off the thought process and just go blank, quiet at will. When I see something going on I know what it is, how it works and where it is going to go.

I have been able to do that with Equities for quite some time because I think of it as being a sentient being.

[Hawkeye's-911T]

^^^this + strong coffee & good books = Shangri-La - my perception & definition on doing nothing.

Cheers
JB

[Brando]

Sometimes sitting, relaxing, and doing nothing can be quite gratifying.

[thingmon]

Originally Posted by masraum

As a matter of fact, I'll bet that I could sit where ever this is or anyplace remotely similar for quite a while without feeling the need to speak.

Beautiful. I'd have to yodel a couple times... Maybe one Tarzan yell. I expect the fauna would drown out anything else.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by masraum

I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in central Florida!

Ha - good call. Yes it is!

Your post though made me curious enough to do a Google Image search and apparently the photo is of Lake O'Hara in Canada.

[Paul K]

https://youtu.be/3XjUFYxSxDk

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Paul K

https://youtu.be/3XjUFYxSxDk

very VERY funny.

[Paul K]

Originally Posted by masraum

very VERY funny.

Agree, it’s also 100% accurate!

[ckelly78z]

Far too many people I know seem to think that every thought that crosses their minds needs to be verbalized. A friend of mine's son is one of these people, and getting a word in edge wise is difficult. He seems to dominate the direction of the conversation wherever he is, and can't understand why he has few freinds. My son graduated with this kid, was in Cub Scouts, played football with him for 8 years, and breifly dated his sister. I would say it was a 95/5% ratio of spoken words in this kids favor. He is exsaparating to be around when just won't SHUT UP !

[KFC911]

I know someone just like that.....'cept it's more like 100/nada..unbearable to be around.

I talk to myself a lot too...and never seem to hear anything back....hmm???

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by KC911

I know someone just like that.....'cept it's more like 100/nada..unbearable to be around.

I talk to myself a lot too...and never seem to hear anything back....hmm???

I stopped talking to myself because I don't particularly care for his attitude!

I don't necessarily have a problem with conversation, but I have a problem with chatter boxes wo are not comfortable with silence and have to make noise to cover it up. To me there is no such thing as an uncomfortable pause.

One time my wife asked what I was thinking about and I told her math.
Huh?
I explained that I was thinking of some math equations.
Why?
I almost tried to explain that earlier that day I had tried to do some calculations in my head but struggled a little.
It should have been easy for me but it took while to get it.
So I was recalling some of what I had learned decades ago to refresh the memory.

But I knew that wouldn't work so I smiled and said "because you married a kook".
Problem solved.

[KFC911]

Never put anything off until tomorrow....

I've been doing nuthin' all day...well...at least I gave it some thought

[masraum]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]One time my wife asked what I was thinking about and I told her math.
Huh?
I explained that I was thinking of some math equations.
Why?
I almost tried to explain that earlier that day I had tried to do some calculations in my head but struggled a little.
It should have been easy for me but it took while to get it.
So I was recalling some of what I had learned decades ago to refresh the memory.

But I knew that wouldn't work so I smiled and said "because you married a kook".
Problem solved.

My wife used to ask me what I was thinking about. I started telling her, and more often than not, it was that kind of thing. She asks much less frequently now that she realizes that it's generally nothing that she'd be interested in and not remotely similar to the kind of stuff that she'd be thinking about.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Paul K

https://youtu.be/3XjUFYxSxDk

Laughed out loud many times...now take everything he said and apply it to a man (me) who has lived alone for the last 30 years. Yeah...I don't do well with gf's.

[sugarwood]

What a creepy video.
Something about that reeks of some kind of religious couples retreat workshop.