WATCHING THE TRAIN

"Into Dusk", oil, by Gerald Schwartz

     Today I plan to watch the “train of thoughts” pass by. It’s true that thoughts will be passing through my life all day, much like an endless freight train, and what I want to do, you might say, is sit on a hillside above the tracks, and simply observe the cars as they pass. Like watching a hundred-car train back in my small town when I was a kid, watching my “train of thoughts” could be an absorbing exercise. When a defensive, self-protective thought comes by, I might say, “Gosh, look at that strange-looking thought!” or, when a happy thought passes, I might exclaim, with sincere curiosity, “How did that beautiful thought get made?”, or, when a horrible, blood-curdling,  boxcar-thought thunders by, “That is one hideous old thought!” The trick is to just observe the train, but not jump aboard. So often in my life I forget about observing my thoughts, and instead, I jump onto a thought, close the door, and ride with it as it careens across the countryside. Fearful thoughts have taken me on many rowdy rides over the years, as have thoughts of envy, anger, defensiveness, and countless others. Today I refuse to get on the train. It’s much more fun, and far less desperate, to merely sit on a hillside and watch with fascination as the long, long train of thoughts rolls by.