The Weight of Thoughts

/ roughwighting

weighty thoughts, angelSome times I can feel my bones straining under the weight of my thoughts. And that’s wrong, all wrong, so I strain more in the down dog position, where my arms and wrists and shoulders take on the weight of my trunk.

My trunk. What a word for my body, which is pack full of multi-grain toast this morning, as well as three cups of hot green tea that have not found a way to warm my too-cold fingers as I type about my bones.

My bones. I imagine my bones are light as a skeleton, while the rest of me – my muscles, my blood, my skin – is too heavy for what lies within.yoga, down dog

But the heaviest weight is definitely my thoughts.

bubble bath, lavender, relaxingMy head pulses with the thrum of an ache. A head ache, which should be soothed by a warm bath laced with lavender bubbles and a good steamy book. Instead, I pose in the down dog and think of my weighty thoughts.

Are there such a thing as light thoughts? I ask, lightly.

A light thought – um what’s for dinner tonight, is that light enough? But then I worry about going to the grocery store and wearing a heavy winter coat in April, while I’d prefer to be scattering daisy pedals over a garden path full of roses and petunias, but instead, I shovel out the snow in the front landscaping, hoping for a glimpse of a purple crocus.crocus, April, spring

See? Weighty cold thoughts on a Friday morning.

Light, light, ummm….

It’s impossible.

As light as my earlobes are, and as light as my soul can be when it flits about daintily during happy times (like walking in the hot sun, or hugging a warm grandbaby), my thoughts seem to never be light.

child's pose, yoga, relaxI collapse into child’s pose.

Even here. Because now I wonder, is child’s pose a giving up? Or is child’s pose a giving in to gravity and the sweet seduction of letting go?

But is gravity the reason our thoughts are so heavy?

See….?

How heavy are your thoughts?

(This post was inspired by the quote by Jonathan Safran Foer Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: “Sometimes I can feel my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living.”)

Pictures thanks to Google Images, except for my little crocus. That’s mine.

 

59 thoughts on “The Weight of Thoughts”

  1. My thoughts are too heavy much of the time. And every time I listen to the news or read the paper (which is often), they only grow heavier. Yoga–and any exercise–is a great way to lessen them, so like you, I’m off to go move those heavy thoughts through activity. 🙂

    Lovely post.

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    • Thank you Carrie. I agree, reading about the ‘world’ out there is plenty reason for heavy thoughts. Walking and listening to the birds (I don’t think they have a heavy thought as they tweet away) and concentrating on a yoga pose help lighten up our load a bit.

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  2. Ah, my bones gave way under the weight of thoughts years ago Pamela.Now I ensure all thoughts are helium filled before I let them loose.
    Have a wonderful Easter and I hope that snow soon moves away under the force of some warm sunshine.
    xxx Huge Hugs xxx

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  4. I love this, Pam! My thoughts are often very heavy. For me, running is the best way to lighten my weighted trunk.
    I wish I could send some of our 80 degree weather your way. Happy Easter!

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    • I would so happily take some of your weather. And if I could run my thoughts away, I would. Walking’s more my speed now, but the more I walk the lighter the thoughts, for sure. Happy Easter!

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  6. I often tell my son – enjoy your childhood, don’t grow up too quickly. I remember my parents telling me the exact same thing. And I remember mumbling “uh huh” as I am sure most children do. We so badly want to grow up and do what we want to do – as an adult. But, it is the innocence of those younger years that allow us feel less “weighty” about everything. Sometimes I feel like I live on Jupiter when I wish I was living on Mars (check out “gravity”). In reality, living on Earth is just fine so long as I have the right perspective 😉

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  8. Once Spring unfolds around you, your weight will lighten. Promise! Way too much winter for you on the first year back. Book Club today at Beth’s, I’ll be thinking of you with love.

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  10. When I can’t distract those weighty thoughts I step out into nature and the stress melts from my neck and shoulders down….helps me return to my little world lightened and lifted. 🙂

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    • Walking through nature (as opposed to walking on a city street, which brings on MORE weighty worries) is a most wonderful way to lighten up, I agree. Somehow we become smaller and our thoughts of less consequence as the woods and nature’s sounds surround us. Ahhhh.

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  11. I sometimes feel being the oldest in my family created more weight upon my life, taking care of my brothers and trying to keep them from getting into trouble… My Dad said I had ‘an old soul.’ But I feel much lighter as I get older, as if my responsibilities have lifted. Maybe I am older so my weight is in my bottom half of my body instead of in my head! ha ha!

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    • I think you’re right – holding on to so many responsibilities makes everything heavier. As those responsibilities go away, we realize another virtue of getting older. 🙂
      From one old soul to another – hope you keep a spring to your step and your smile.

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  12. My thought are lightest when I’m not thinking about me. When I notice the birds chirping or horses romping in a field. Those thoughts about how much joy is around me are light as a feather.

    This was a beautifully written post–lyrical, really.

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    • If I can’t get out because of the snow/sleet/wind/rain (this is New England, after all), I bake. And yes, there’s something about the smell of chocolate wafting in the kitchen that puts all weighty subjects in the back of the brain. Keep on cookin’, Gerlinde!

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    • Okay, you made me laugh, which does lighten up the thoughts for sure. I think you should take up yoga instead of stubbing toes while making beds or breaking fingers while dish washing. It’s actually better for your health (blood is a necessity for our body, after all…)

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  16. There’s an old country saying or maybe it’s not country. “Lighten up your load.” I say, lighten up any way you can, as long as it’s legal.

    Doing yoga will surely help you stay youthful.

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    • Ha Ha. Lighten Up Legally (That might be another good country western song. Or, actually, maybe it’s more rap.) As far as yoga goes, inversion poses (where the head is lower than the body) is a good way to lighten up those darn thoughts. 🙂

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  17. That’s part of the beauty of sitting down to a good baseball game. There’s plenty of room for light thinking. As Jack Brickhouse, one of the very best baseball announcers in the history of the game used to say, “Come out to the ball park (Wrigley Field) and let Leo Durocher (Cubs manager) and _____ (Walt Alston, Red Shoendist, Gil Hodges, managers of the other visiting teams) do the worrying for you.” Who needs yoga when there’s a game on? I said that, not Jack Brickhouse.

    Wishing you clear thoughts, light thoughts, conclusive thoughts and more.

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    • That’s why when I meditate, I need to envision those thoughts as clouds and blow them away. Is that what you do? Sometimes I have to blow that imaginary wind really hard!

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  21. Great post, Pam. Our thoughts do weigh us down and sometimes it is hard to drop that weight. Yoga is good, writing is good, you are doing the right things, you just need to do more of them! 60 degrees is coming this weekend!!

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  22. LOL. My thoughts definitely weigh me down. Never thought about them as actually heavy but so true. I used to think of child’s pose as this time waster- when being still was what I considered to be a waste of time. Now I just LOVE it.

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    • I have many friends who think yoga is a waste of time because it’s – horrors – s l o w. Ah, the blessings of learning how to slow things down, how to breathe away the too-heavy thoughts, how to lighten up our lives. Namaste.

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  23. What a thought provoking post! This is one of the great keys to happiness I think to not let the thinking weigh one down so as to paralyze the doing. It has been a life long issue however as I have aged and I would say grown emotionally more healthy, I am doing more and thinking less. It takes conscious effort to push the concerns and worries away but work worth taking on.

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    • It’s so affirming to hear that I’m not the only one who struggles with stopping the thinking and just ‘be.’ I’m working on it, and have told myself (and my weighty thoughts) to ‘shut up’ more than once! 🙂

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    • Actually, Le Poids des Pensees sounds much more weighty and lovely. Which is what I love about the French language (and wish I could speak it). I’m so happy that you’ve come visited me here at roughwighting. Come on by anytime!

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