The lost art of thinking.

My neighbor happens to have a boxed set of the entire West Wing series, and she let me borrow the WHOLE THING!!!! Do you remember how much I love West Wing? As in, it has helped encourage me to make major life decisions such as going back to graduate school (I just realized I haven't written about that yet!!) and taking our daughter out of public school to homeschool her.

As we refinish our bedroom furniture, I've been enjoying watching season 5 of the West Wing. Aaron Sorkin has left as the writer at this point, so it's not my favorite time period of the series, but there are still inspiring points to the series.

Friday night, as the president is deciding about what action should be taken during a Middle East revolt, you see him "think." You are shown that a lot of the job is listening, asking for advice, and thinking.

(Photo by Wiertz Sébastien)

Before I turned on West Wing that night, my family had gone to a local art exhibit where the artist mentioned "thinking."

The artist came from India to visit his daughter six years ago, and while he was here, he took an art class from the instructor I usually take classes from. He went back to India and produced magnificent art pieces. He has come back to America to visit his daughter this summer, and he has enrolled in the same class I am taking at the community center.

He is proficient in charcoal, acrylic, oil, and watercolor. His colors are stunning. His use of light and shadow is perfect. He is in my art class. He is splattering paint with the rest of us hobby artists. He is painting some abstract pieces while he is a gifted realist.

When he was asked why on earth he is taking an art class, he answered simply: "I don't know all types of art techniques. There is always more to learn and 'think' about."

(Photo by  karindalziel)

There is always more to learn. Unfortunately, sometimes I feel like I'm so busy trying to keep all the balls juggling in the air that I forget to take the time to "think" about what I'm learning. I have a natural gift to be able to test well. I can take in information quickly and regurgitate it, while still basically understanding it. This gift poses one big problem: I am not forced to stop to "think" which prevents me from taking the time to stop and "think."

For example, I rarely allow myself the time to sit on the couch in the middle of the day and read a book about education, allergies, or food production, which are all relevant and fascinating topics related to my role as educator, chef, and mother. Instead, I pick up tidbits here and there, throw them into my knowledge bank, and prepare to regurgitate them whenever they are needed.

There was a time in my life as a student when reading and "thinking" were my jobs. There was a time in my life in the corporate world when "thinking" and brainstorming were what I was paid to do everyday.

Now, in the fast paced world I live in, I feel guilty to stop and "think." I feel I'm not paid to sit and read about a topic that is relevant to me. I need to stop feeling hurried, though, and I need to stop feeling guilty about appearing as though I'm just sitting around doing nothing.

(I don't know why the bottom is grey! Photo by Andréia)

If you see me out-and-about, and I look like I'm doing nothing, I might be. But, I might also be "thinking."