RE: The Thought That Got Away
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100% YES, I had and have those life-changing thoughts that vanish and never return (never is a big word since what is lost we don't know if it came back another time, perhaps, perhaps not). The recording part, well, although I wanted this, it never really happened. At least, not for those true life-changing thoughts.
As many have (I guess), I have - almost - constant thoughts. Sometimes I direct them to something specific, at other times they are just random, and I let it flow. The best thoughts always comes when I am not able to record them. All good. Although when I try to solve things for e.g. work, I sometimes hate the fact I didn't record my thoughts. Feels such a waste of time when I have to sit in silence to try and think whatever it is, while I already had thoughts about it. But we can't do much other than 1) speak out loud our thoughts, and 2) constantly record ourselves. Throughout the day, I have tons of ideas for HIVE posts, many of them half-written in my head, and forgotten in a second. The temporary nature of thoughts, as you pointed out, is so true!
Someday we'll learn to write those thoughts down before we lose them 😂 Now that most smartphones have voice memo apps and perfect transcription, that helps. In fact, the first draft of this post was written that way.
Perhaps indeed, but I wonder how our thought process travels when we start to talk outloud. Perhaps this alters how we think? Donno, didnt try so far. I just know when I am angry with myself, I talk outloud to make a larger impact on my own self. Sometimes I talk outloud as well when I am executing something that truly needs my attention. Anyways, I am diverting 🙂
The thought isn't you. It comes and goes like the wind. Can you grasp the wind? Talking with yourself about it is trying to grasp it instead of just letting it come and go. It's not really altering anything, just giving you a little more of a chance to keep it around a while longer. Writing it down makes it easier to keep it around awhile longer, but even that won't keep it around forever, especially if you write it badly (a Seinfeld episode comes to mind), not in enough detail, or if you lose the note you write.
I understand what you try to say.
What I try to say is that changing our selves may work through our thoughts.
For instance, the older I get the more impatient I become. But this can be changed, by accepting that others may not understand me that easily, need more time to understand etc. Accepting that, results in not feeling impatient anymore, or at least a higher tollerance before becoming impatient.
Will this alter/change ourself indefinately? Am not sure about that, since I experienced myself that when I truly tell myself to be patient just before I enter into a conversation with someone who usually triggers me, I can accept more, be less impatient, accept the extra time I need and so on and so fort.
When I repeatedly do this, over time this becomes something that I handle better without thinking and 'programming' myself. But when I leave this like that, after some longer period of time, I may become more impatient again.
Long story, but I like to give you one of my experiences in which I think our thoughts can indeed result in (temporary) change to ourselves. How this phenomenon is called/known in Zen, I don't know 😉 Perhaps you do?