One of the things writers discover early on is the sheer amount of "stuff" inside their brains. Talk about a boundless database. Even as I write this, I'm being bombarded with random ideas and word suggestions from my own neural ether. It feels like magic. The mind is a vast ocean of language, facts, poetry, quotes, memories, jokes, instructions, images and even sounds. Whether you're awake or asleep, it's always on. And its faster and more complex than any computer on the planet. Though most of us cannot manipulate the mind's latent knowledge with Google-like efficiency, almost everything you've ever learned is retained in some form in some corner of your cerebral cortex. That's a whole lotta spaghetti. And you add to it daily. That's both remarkable and spooky. Not convinced? Try this exercise: Surf to Wikipedia's "
Most Popular Idioms" page. It lists a whopping 188 idioms. You know, things like "When pigs fly" or "Sick as a dog." I guarantee that readers of this blog - surely an erudite bunch - will know every idiom listed. You've used them all (and hundreds more) countless times. Charlie Sheen aside ("I have a different brain. I got tiger blood, man"), it's worth remembering what Thomas Edison said: "The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around." It's precious cargo. Protect it, feed it, pamper it -- because the mind is indeed "a terrible thing to waste," like you know who.
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