Down With Unanimity!

“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, everyday, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.” ~Christopher Morley

An old high school friend posted this quote on his Facebook page and it really spoke to me. This is, in words, the reason that I blog. If you had asked me to explain why I feel the need to sit at this computer and convey my thoughts, feelings and ideas--even if no one reads them - these are the words that I would have wanted to have had in my head!  The fact that I can  also read another's quote  - and have it speak to my very soul - is the reason why I read the thoughts, feelings and ideas of others. The bandwagon is a bad place to stay--in uniform thought and expression. While it takes courage to be different, it is the very essence of good conversation and a live lived well.

Expressing an original thought only to find that the thought isnt original after all, gives me a delightful glow.  It is not ego that drives my need to write. No need to have someone say "Oh isnt she clever! I wish I had thought of that!"  The best satisfaction comes from knowing that others in the world have had the same ideas and have either improved upon them, implemented them, or dismissed them on grounds yet unknown to me.  I have some strange thoughts; random, eccentric and strange.  It comforts me to find that many people feel the same way about their own ideas and aspirations.

I think that the best thinkers and conversationalists are those who are not completely positive that they are always right. Think of the person whom you most like to converse with. I am not asking you to think of the one that you would most go to for advice. I am asking for the one person who you can spend hours just talking with. Are they full of facts and information? Are they authoritative and precise about what they think and believe about everything? Do they listen to you with interest and question comments that you make? Are they talking "with" you or "to" you or even "at" you?  Are they willing to sound rediculous? Silly? Do you leave their company wishing that you had an hour more?

In this age of information and technology, sometimes we focus more on conversing with people who have the information that we need and not with people whose information and ideas we desire. I love hearing about a book "no one is reading". I might like it, too! I love hearing a thought that "no one is thinking". I love being around the person who "does things no one would be silly enough to do". These people add life to my life.
I would love nothing better than for people to read the quote above and think of me!

That is the essence of why I write this blog and what I want from my readers! Let's share! Let's be silly and read things no one else would. Let's discuss ideas and form new, "crazy" ideas that no one else would repeat! Who wants to think like everyone else? Who wants to talk and share only for information? Who wants to be professional and authoritative all of the time?

Not me! Down with unanimity!