Room To Think
(Note: The date on this post is an approximation. I know the post was written in 1998, and I believe it is in the correct order with respect to other posts, but the exact date it was composed has been lost to the mists of time.)
I need some room to think.
“What IS he gibbering on about?” I can hear you asking. “Thinking is a purely internal process, with no external requirements whatsoever.”
Well, that’s not quite true. You see, environment affects state-of-mind. Light level and color, sound volume and make-up, and physical surroundings all have an impact on our mental processes. I find, that in my case, having a lot of space is conducive to free-flowing thought process. Light should be clear and bright, and there should be little noise, and what there is should be natural if possible. Additionally, there should be plenty of empty space nearby. This, I propose, is part of the reason why awe-inspiring natural settings tend to encourage deeper thoughts. Besides the seeds of thought that exist there, natural settings tend to be wide open spaces, with plenty of bright, clear sunlight, and natural sounds that tend to fade peacefully into the background, rather than assaulting your ears with the discord of machinery and electroncs.
So, I need room to think. As I look around my bedroom, in which my computer/primary thinking station resides, I see disarray and crowding everywhere. Boxes stand in the corner to a height of 7 feet or more, untouched since I moved into this room, many of them not mine. Blankets are strewn about, and books, diskettes, and CD-ROMs cover the surfaces. Dust is abundant here, and there is barely room to move about. How can one be expected to think in a place where one cannot even walk unimpeded?
So, off I go to clear up some space in here, and perhaps to do something about the dismal lighting. And then, once the room is ready, I can sit back and think about what to do next.