Second day and this is the quote
“When the brain blazes like a bonfire, we no longer need to ask why we are alive.”
From The Occult by Colin Wilson.
The Occult is a book I read many moons ago and enjoyed, but don’t remember now so well. However, that quote leapt out to me at the time and I wrote it down and kept it, because it is for me so totally true. When I get bored in life, I start to feel a bit lost and pointless; not unhappy, just feeling that maybe being here on this planet is a mistake. Then something stirs me awake (usually when ideas for a story start jumping around, but it can be spending time with good people or studying or discovering some bizarre truth about the world too) and all doubts vanish as my brain blazes. It’s like pure energy bouncing back and forth, sparking up neurons and connecting ideas. At the moment I’m going through a sluggish phase, and I need that quote as a reminder, I hope it means something to someone reading too.
inkbiotic 
Absolutely – and it will blaze again!
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Thank you! Let’s hope so 🙂
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Sluggishness can sometimes feel like a self-replicating condition, a feedback loop that keeps amplifying negative feelings, a rail track it’s hard to jump off out of. (That’s enough mixed metaphors now …) I do commiserate, and hope that that brain spark will soon jump-start the engine of your positive vibes! (Sorry, another metaphor.)
I devoured that Colin Wilson when it first came out — even bought the hardback — and was quite excited by it (this being during my weekend hippy phase in the late 60s). I remember liking the stuff about poltergeists and third eyes and ESP.
It was definitely of its time; still, the atmosphere it evoked of a future pregnant with possibilities is one that has remained with me, and I can quite see why you should have retained a fondness for this quote. 🙂
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I’m glad you read it too, I hope it brought back good memories. Thank you for the mixed metaphors, they cheered me up! 😀
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sorry to hear of your sluggishness …. I think sometimes, we slip into these moments, when maybe we need to stop, slow down, find some way to energize or recharge, by resting and looking for inspiration, without sliding into a frenzy of interest, but then, for whatever reasons, we just tip the scales and sink into feeling really not well, depressed, lethargic. But usually something will spark, some little bit of something that we notice and then, we begin to explore again or are off running wildly!
I hope you feel better and that you find some time to just rest, breathe, enjoy – and then, when you least expect it – that flash happens 🙂
Really interesting quote 🙂
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Thank you, you’re absolutely right. I’m not panicking, like you say the energy and excitement (the blaze) always returns. To be honest, I think I need the sluggishness, it gives me space to let ideas settle. Thank you for the encouragement though, it’s always a delight to connect and hear your view. 🙂
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it’s just sometimes, it seems like we resent the sluggishness or slack, when in effect, we really may just need some down time …. be well and have a restful night 🙂
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Too true, I shall. You too 🙂
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Great poem!
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