The Mind Recording Device

Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted someone to invent a machine that records thoughts. When I was a teenager it was to be able to capture all the good ideas, philosophies and theories I had during the day, especially the fleeting ones. Then I could write them all in my diary at night. It seemed a lot easier than having to remember them or stop to write them down, and even then capturing on paper those moments of genius were never nearly as good as when they first flashed through my mind.

I was thinking about this machine again the other day, when we did a free writing exercise at the writer’s group. This time I was thinking how such a machine could capture thoughts so at the end of every day I could see how much I was thinking positively and how much I was thinking things that were not useful to my purpose. Like Stuart Wilde says, spend as much time as possible on the things you want in life and as little time as possible on the distractions. Well for me at this time all I need to do is focus on being open to prosperity as I’m forging ahead with my dreams. That’s it. And yet how much time do I actually spend on this each day? How many wasted minutes do I use up thinking about things that are not important or that actually go against my goal? I d say a lot. So I’d like to invent a machine to show me at the end of each day what I’ve wished for. If we all had that we’d be a lot more mindful I guess. But maybe that’s too easy. The practice of actually having to observe ourselves think is great exercise for the mind, and actually, it also keeps us at the observer level, which trains us to stay in spirit mode rather than in the chatter of our minds. So it’s one of those mechanisms built into us that serve a greater purpose.

So maybe that’s why we haven’t invented a machine that can record actual thoughts yet: because we already have the perfect mechanism inside our heads. And I’ve realised that as I’ve grown older, what I’ve wished for has come true. I haven’t had to buy a machine that measures my thoughts, but I’ve somehow learnt the skill to be able to remember those fleeting glimpses, AND to translate them onto paper. Genius.