I was disappointed that I had trouble getting to sleep last night. My internal clock is still running late. As I lay in bed, I started to think about a series of books that I started to read years ago and that I realized that now that I can read, I could pick up again. I was excited. I had an image of what the covers looked like, abstract graphics with a 1950s feel, but forgot the name of the book and the author. I found that the more I thought about it the less I was remembering. I wondered if I had been dreaming, the memory faded like a dream. Then I realized I could look at Goodreads and see what I read. I picked up my phone, started to look through the apps, when it hit me that I had no idea what I was looking up. I had been dreaming. By this point I remembered nothing about the books but that image of the covers. I felt like I hadn’t fallen asleep at all, that’s what started the entire line of thought leading to the book, I didn’t feel like I woke up, but I dreamed so I must have been sleeping. These kinds of things happen. When someone tells me that they got no sleep the night before I’m always doubtful as I can’t tell for sure if I’ve been sleeping.
I’m a man of constant affections. When I’ve lost contact with an important friend either through drifting away or over an issue, I feel bad about it. I want to reconnect. Sometimes it seems unwise and sometimes it’s just awkward, so I don’t. On Tuesday I was thinking of one such friend and considering writing them to see if they wanted to reconnect. This was a separation over an issue, and I decided it best to leave in the friend’s court, as it was their issue with me, not the other way around. Then yesterday as I was walking to Stop & Shop; I saw a young woman that could pass as that friend’s little sister, similar face, similar size and shape, and similar hair. I considered using that meeting as an excuse to write when I got home. I continued to consider it while watching the World Series and eating dinner. Then I got a Facebook notification, the friend that I was thinking about accepted my friend request. I didn’t send it yesterday. I probably send it months or even years ago. I immediately messaged the friend and we caught up with each other. I found out they missed me too. More reason to try and reconnect with people. It feels so good when it works out.
So, here’s the thing. If instead of a friend it was some product that I’d been thinking about and had casually mentioned to a friend, and then I saw an ad about the product, some people would take that as proof that my phone listened to my conversation and sent it to the company that makes the product. As it is, with a friend, many of you are thinking it’s fate or some sort of psychic connection. It’s the same phenomena; shouldn’t they have the same explanation? They do. It’s called coincidence. We don’t notice the many times we hear from friends that we weren’t thinking about or people we thought about that we didn’t hear from or saw ads about things we hadn’t talked about or the many things we talked about that we didn’t see ads for. Our brains are built to see patterns and find them even when they are random. So, we see faces in inanimate objects and pictures in the stars.
The only part that puzzles me is why everyone doesn’t see this? I suspect it’s because it makes the world more interesting if we believe in mystical connections, conspiracies, and dreams being sent to us.
It’s a beautiful day so I’m going to have to go out and take a walk. There are a few errands, I’ll choose one and walk to it. I’ll do the other when I go to vote. I’m excited, New York has early voting for the first time. It starts on Saturday and runs 9 days. It’s smart that they are starting it this year, an off year. They can work out the bugs when turnout is low. Next year’s presidential election should have a very high turnout.
Yesterday I decided to not make grits ala Horvendile because I didn’t have any link sausage and that’s a key ingredient. I could have made it with Taylor ham but the sausage is even better. That’s why I went to Stop & Shop, to get the sausage. So that’s today’s breakfast. Damn, I forgot to buy matzoh so I can also make matzoh brei. Oh well, next time. Now I’m hungry and it’s time to eat.
Wise Madness 