What do you think?

Dee's advice is "Think over everything you say, and don't say everything you think." This is fine for someone who can think inside their head. My head is like an overstuffed, unorganized scrapbooking drawer. Until I dump it all out I don't know what's in there. Then I sort through and discover random bits and pieces that I have to try out in different ways, and finally figure out a way to put it all together. You are the victims of my organization attempts. When I dump out my mind and sift through the junk, the dust settles in my blog.

Dee has never had the experience of laying awake regretting the dumb things he's said. He didn't say them. He hasn't called someone frantically after a conversation to try to restate what he meant, because he meant what he said the first time. I regularly say everything I think before I've had time to think it through, and then regretted it. Of course, Dee doesn't say much. Nobody knows him very well. He doesn't tell everyone he meets his life story, and the life stories of everyone he knows, before they've finished lunch. People know me! They can tell my anecdotes better than I can, and correct me on the details. When I mention a topic, even my in-law kids can complete my sentence (or paragraph), and have now turned it into a game called "Twenty-five Words or Less." I can't even tell it in 25 words or less!

I wrote a poem about 30 years ago about keeping a diary. It was called "Mama's Minutes" and it said "Mama had a diary she kept beside her bed, I'd see her write by candlelight, She said it cleared her head." I'll probably always have to clear my head by saying everything I think. It gives me a chance to think it over.