As soon as I reached my room, I jotted down on a piece of paper:
In the showerbest ideasChanges—chantFinger to Nose—with JoycedemoNote from neurologistThen I relaxed and finished getting ready for the day. I had enough notes to capture my ideas so that I could act on them later, when I had time.
Some of my best ideas have surfaced while in the shower: ideas for essays, thoughts on how to present ideas, solutions to baffling editing and job-related issues. The only problem is making sure that I’ll remember them by the time I get out of the shower.
As I wash my hair, I chant, “In the shower, best ideas, in the shower, best ideas, in the shower.”
Oh! I should mention that the idea for the post “Changes” came to me in the shower.
While rinsing my hair, I chant, “Changes, in the shower, best ideas in the shower, changes, in the shower, best ideas in the shower.”
As I reach for the soap, I remember my exchange with Joyce about the neurological test, where the patient is supposed to touch index finger to nose while their eyes are closed. I could compose a separate post about that.
I soap myself and chant, “Finger to nose, changes, in the shower, best ideas, finger to nose, changes…”
I should put in the part where Joyce and I were demonstrating the finger to nose thing to each other.
I chant, “Finger to nose, demo, changes, in the shower, best ideas…”
Oh! And what about the note from the neurologist about not being drunk?
“Note from neurologist, finger to nose, demo, changes, in the shower, best ideas, note from neurologist, finger to nose, demo, changes…”
I’d better finish up quickly—that’s as many ideas I can fit into a chant I’ll remember. I continued chanting as I hurried. “Note from neurologist, finger to nose, demo, changes…”
As soon as I possibly could, I ran into my room to jot the chant down.
When I got home from work I started writing this piece. I’ll write a post about the finger to nose thing next.