The comic strip Pickles features an adorable 70-something couple named Earl and Opal Pickles. In Sunday’s issue, Earl asks Opal, “Why do I have to say everything twice?”
This is related to one of my husband’s frequent complaints: I never listen to him. He may tell me twice that he’s playing golf on Friday, but come Friday, I’ll still call him at the office and be surprised when he’s not there. By the sixth ring, I remember—oh, yeah, golf.
This year I inadvertently double-booked a summer weekend. It’s a special weekend—we have attended Keystone’s Bluegrass and Beer Festival for, I don’t know, twenty years? I became too comfortable and didn’t mark it on my calendar—not a good idea because the weekend date, of course, changes every year. If this “reliable” date I have in my mind (August 1-2) occurs midweek, though, the festival date changes. This year it happens on August 3 and 4, which caused the double-booking error.
These are just a couple of examples of what I have termed “Fresh Mind Syndrome.” The more I think about it, the more sense it makes that writers are prone to suffer from this malady.
Understanding the source of this condition will help.
What it is not:
Memory impairment. When called upon, we can recall everyday items we need—gas for the car, bread for the table, new air filter for the car, batteries for the remote. We can (robustly) sing lyrics to songs by Celine Dion or the Eagles.
Diminishing IQ. If anything, it’s the opposite of this. More on this later.
Deliberate ignorance. It behooves me to be aware of my husband’s schedule. How else can he meet me if I need road assistance, or make a trip to the grocer for some dinner ingredient I’m missing for that new recipe, or bring me an extra key when I’ve locked myself out of the car?
No, au contraire. Fresh Mind Syndrome occurs because we are writers. Think about your process when writing a new scene. What do you do? You clear your mind. Over years of writing and hundreds—nay, thousands—of new scenes, you’ve learned to erase the mundane, silence the inner editor and unleash your awesome creativity. What can be more miraculous than creating memorable people from the magical wisps in your head, painting serene beach locales, or making up a haunted pet cemetery (if you have a leaning toward horror)?
So it’s not mental impairment, dull intellect or ignorance that creates these daily speed bumps. Rather, this nothing-short-of-amazing ability to push an eraser across the blackboard of our minds and clear the way for creativity is what leads to Fresh Mind Syndrome.
The downside is that occasionally, “somewhat” important data gets brushed away with the eraser. This causes speed bumps like my husband’s golf day and the Beer and Bluegrass Festival dates.
So the next time your mate or friend complains about your not listening to him or her, explain this syndrome. A clear mind nurtures creativity, and you have perfected the art of it.
We may overlook an activity or misremember a date—but we always get our scenes written.
Janet–
Wait, what did you write? Cute blog.
I often quote myself, “Forgetting is a sign of intelligence. I must keep lots of important information close at hand.” Sometime that works, sometime it backfires. So, your syndrome will certainly help me in the future.
Hi, Rainey, I love PlanA/PlanB strategies. I’ll use yours, too!