The Place Where Thoughts Live
CHAPTER ONE
Letter 6
How Do I Think?
Yesterday, dear Julian, I asked you how you were feeling.
Today, I’d like to ask you what you’re thinking.
As I explained yesterday, thoughts and feelings are often mixed up in a powerful way that we can’t untangle. The reason is inside your head. It’s time to look at the marvellous squishy thing between your ears, right behind your eyes.
The brain (a huge collection of very special cells that looks like a bag filled with cooked oatmeal) is where the human mind lives – and the mind, which is a huge construction of thoughts and feelings, is a powerful thing, my dear Julian.
It’s as important to your body as the air you breathe.
Without your mind, you wouldn’t be able to do anything. You couldn’t think or feel things – and your body wouldn’t be able to do all those automatic little actions that require no thinking-work from you (like when you say “wiggle!” to your fingers, and they do all the complex individual motions necessary to wiggle those fingers without you even worrying about it).
As I said in my last letter, dear Julian, life is built on feelings, and a good life is when you manage all those feelings properly. All these emotions are created by the thoughts in our minds. So if you train yourself to control your thoughts, you can master your feelings as well – and greatly improve your chances of living a happy life.
(We must always try to choose positive, useful thoughts, even when it feels tricky or even impossible. Positive thinking and positive feeling is what will let us enjoy the rest of our lives.).
Because life is filled with new things to learn, we should never stop learning – because that will allow us to improve and become better versions of ourselves. There will always be something new to learn – and since learning is fun, this means there will always be more fun out there, if we just go and find it!
For now, just remember that you think from inside your brain.
Your brain is where your thoughts and feelings come from – and you, the unique person called Julian, are made from those thoughts and feelings. Your brain is part of your body, and your body is part of you – but if someone asked you where in your body you really were, the best place to point is at your head, where your brain is.
I know this is complicated. (The greatest minds in humanity are working on understanding it right now, so you’re allowed to feel confused!) But just remember, dear Julian – humans are not just the sum of all their body parts, like how a “car” is what we call lots of pieces of metal balanced on four wheels. Humans are made of thoughts and feelings too – and it all starts in the mind.
You’ll like today’s homework, my love. I guarantee it.
For the next half-hour, I want you to stare out of a window, and let your thoughts drift. Allow those thoughts to do anything they want to do. Don’t try to control them. Just watch them, let them move though your mind.
Let them organise themselves…and listen carefully if they want to say something to you!
See you next time, my dear.
Love,
Auntie Mariana
This is a blog series after my book called Dear Julian: Welcome Letters To The World. Feel free to read it on the blog or buy the Kindle version on Amazon. Thanks for your support!
