Writing out what we think can be a revelatory process. It’s kind of like seeing what we hear in our mind, becoming aware of where our train of thought is going. When we see what it looks like on paper (or the computer), it reveals the subtle and delicate nature of our subconscious. Writing out our thoughts can also capture the random things we say to ourselves. Things that if we said them out loud, would seem like a different person to us.
It’s like listening to a bantering debate about the latest thing in the news. Or it can be about problems we’re trying to solve, or the plans we’re working on for the future. Regardless of what it’s about, however, writing them down helps us remember them, to become aware of them, as if we’re a third party listening to our inner voice.
When we make mental notes with the intention of remembering things, how often do we remember them? Do we not forget the key ideas we’ve brainstormed, or forget what was next in line on the itinerary? Our mind can only do so much in the process of thinking things through and remembering. Sometimes things are forgotten in the process.
Thus, whether we write out our thoughts on a napkin, notepad, or in a cellphone or on the computer, we record the transitory nature of our mind, which, like water, flows and changes each second. And the more we write down, the more we see into our own mind.
Fallton Havenstonne 