When I was young I wanted to know everything. I would ask people their thoughts and deny them any of my own. In that way I was a mind-reader. I would put these thoughts away in glass jars collecting until I could say the shelves were full- that's it mind, that's all the room I have.
It went something like this, Me, at age 4:
"Dad, what are you thinking right now, this instant?"
Him: "What am I thinking? Oh I don't know."
Me: "Just tell me exactly what is going through your mind.The exact words and everything."
Him: "That I love you, that's all I'm thinking."
I didn't believe him at the time, but didn't probe further. When he asked me what I was thinking I responded my usual, "Nothing," protecting my mind from the intrusion. Now perhaps more naive than before, I tend to believe that he was telling the truth and spent most of his time thinking about how much he loved us.
"Dad, what are you thinking right now, this instant?"
Him: "What am I thinking? Oh I don't know."
Me: "Just tell me exactly what is going through your mind.The exact words and everything."
Him: "That I love you, that's all I'm thinking."
I didn't believe him at the time, but didn't probe further. When he asked me what I was thinking I responded my usual, "Nothing," protecting my mind from the intrusion. Now perhaps more naive than before, I tend to believe that he was telling the truth and spent most of his time thinking about how much he loved us.
Also now, less naive, I learn there are some things I would rather not know. Some that stir up the past, and many that create deep aching in my gut. And this one had me waking with a gasp. .. And thinking -- "How DUMB am I?"
