Thinking, they say, is very important; it can, however, be a rather dangerous activity. As when you are busy thinking you often forget to do other things. These things, such as watching food in ovens and turning off running taps, can produce undesirable results when left to their own devices for too long. Something more dangerous than this though, is not thinking at all. The results of not thinking at all can be particularly unpleasant. Walking into lamp-posts and trying to insert items of clothing into washing machines without first vacating them can not only be life threatening, but socially demeaning.
Thinking and not thinking, then, become a sort of duality. Two opposites that (much like yin/yang and water/curry sauce) must be carefully balanced to encourage inner peace and harmony. This delicate balance can often be upset by people asking you to do their thinking for them. Much like a game of mental jenga, this extra burden can cause considerable upset to your mental order. Before you realise it you're thinking when you should be not thinking; not thinking when you should be thinking; or worse yet, thinking when you should be thinking, only about the wrong things. Thus it is imperative that before accepting any thinking from someone else, you are sure you can cope with all of your own.
I composed these words after an incident in the college darkroom left some of my own prints a less than desirable shade of black as they were abandoned in the developer for too long while I was busy helping a fellow student. Initially intended as an amusing piece to remind myself not to get too caught up in a single task; perhaps, in these times of great change and uncertainty, they might have some value as a call to sit back and consider the situation before diving in head first expecting a fight.
