My Deep Thought of the Day (or Year...)

Today is a Holden Caulfield kind of day. I had a Holden Caulfield moment - I needed to withdraw from life for a few minutes, just step back, and breath, and watch. I went down to the hospital cafeteria and grabbed a coffee, went outside, and just sat and observed. People were coming and going, talking on phones, walking with friends. This road that I have chosen will be full of important moments that demand my attention, opportunities to save lives etc. But most of our life is composed of unimportant moments that pass without much notice. Walking and talking, standing in line for coffee, running gels. That's most of our life. Strange. And it can be interesting to stop and watch those moments - take notice of the moments that aren't normally noticed...

Anyways, I'm going to share a story from my childhood that for some reason comes to mind. My brother and I used to play this computer game called The Neverhood. It was a walk-around-and-solve-puzzles kind of game. In this game, there was this puzzle where a wall was peppered with 5 or 6 rows of mouse holes. Each mouse hole led to another mouse hole, and basically you had to find your way to the exit on the bottom row by figuring out where each mouse hole led. I started drawing up a map. I painstakingly tried each mouse hole on a level, drawing links, and thinking carefully, trying to figure out the trick or pattern, if there was one. My father walked in and saw me contemplating the screen.

"What are you doing Axl?"

"Just thinking."

Then my brother Slash said "Don't think anymore, just do!"

This was one of those moments that passed completely without notice in my mind, and I have no actual memory of the event, but my father noticed that moment because it highlighted a difference between the way my brother and I see the world. I am a thinker, and that has never changed. I realized that recently I haven't taken enough time to think. These days, my empty moments are filled with worries or smartphones or personal statements or whatever else.

To live without thinking blows monkey balls...

And THAT is my deep thought of the day.