Over the years I have mastered the art. I blame it on my mind as it’s always had the propensity to drift off. The telltale signs have always been there.
One very vivid memory I have is of a five-year-old me at a family meal enthusiastically telling my mother what the people inside my head were doing.
The room fell silent and I could see the fear and confusion in my mother’s eyes as she wondered if I might not quite be the full ticket.
In those days, when adult Conversation bored me, I would drift off to create stories in my head. My mother may have had her concerns, but it was just my imagination taking over.
Now I have no excuse but, because I still can’t stop myself from Drifting off, I have also become a master of non sequitur.
During conversations, I start to float around in the dark recesses of my psyche, before dropping back in into the dialogue again… after it has moved on and much to the annoyance of my friends.
‘What do you think about the Independent Group, Tessa?’
‘What? Oh, yes, the Independent Group… the radical group of young artists in the 1950s… well, I think…?’
‘No… I mean the newly formed Independent Group we’ve just been talking about, Chuka Ummuna et al… ‘
To some degree, my inability to stay with it has held me back over the years. During lectures and business meetings, floating away to la la land has done me no favours.
Although… I would like to think that what I find when I’m floating… has made me more creative. And I know I’m not alone.
Thinking outside of the box often detaches you from what is going on around you, but reaching deep into recesses of your mind to find what you’re looking for, is no bad thing either. Just try not to do it during a conversation.
My mind is constantly siphoning images and knowledge from everywhere and there is no better place to be than in the zone. That buzzy, creative bubble. A place where you know that every word you’re about to say, or every word you are about to write is going to be the right one.
Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
THE ISLEY BROTHERS
