Association

The beauty of the mind is its ability to make connections, to draw out patterns. Its associative powers.

Often I talk of the relations of things, events, films, art, songs, numbers, etc. I consistently make connections of things. And for what? Half the time they're irrelevant, but for some reason they make me happy. It never stops.

There's a couple common associations that I make at high volumes that I would like to share. First off, I think there are a great deal of people that do this, but there's also a handful that do not. Let this serve as a learning experience or as a note to make you become more aware of the associative processes of your mind.

Names. I make a connection with every name I hear. My brain flips through images of every person I've personally known in my life with that very name. Occasionally I will also imagine celebrities with the name as well. From there one of those individuals may stand out. I will then retain the idea of the personality of that person while interacting with this new person. I almost become biased with this person only due to their name, whether it's negative or positive. Naturally, more negative examples come directly to my mind. An example of a negative name association is Sara/Sarah. A good one would be the name Ryan. That is my cousin's name and a series of really good friends of mine. I personally have an enormous distaste for common names, but due to my experiences I have a fondness for the name Ryan. That is just one example. I'm often wary of others with my name, and I find it odd when I meet someone with either of my parent's names. I also always imagine the name spelled out in my head whenever I hear or say a name.

Another major medium that causes me to inevitably make endless associations is films [and novels]. Events, relationships, actions, words, gestures, situations, etc. all bring me to something. I guess that could be one of the purposes of film, but I want to focus on the fascinating aspect of timing and life paths. What I mean is the connections you can make with a film when you see it at one point in your life and then at another time. It's amazing how different the effect of a film or any art can have on you in different times of your life.
Anytime I see some sort of romance or love story film I always draw something out of it that is relevant to my life at the time. I guess that's normal for anything profound and intellectual person to do. There is always a connection. A recent example for me regards the novella and film Shopgirl. I read the book in October last year and it had a profound effect on me. And here just two nights ago I finally saw the film. What I took away from it now, was similar but totally different than when I read the book. I don't plan to go into it in this post but I will in another. I will say that the reasons for the differing experiences stems from the events in my life. When I read the book I was with my ex-boyfriend, just a couple months after a pivotal moment in our relationship occurred. And now, I'm no longer with that boyfriend and someone else currently sparks an interest in me. It's all fascinating.

I could say the very same about songs, but I wish not to get into that whole thing now.




"What truly is logic? Who decides reason? My quest has taken me to the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional, and back. I have made the most important discovery of my career - the most important discovery of my life. It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reason can be found. I am only here tonight because of you. You are the only reason I am. You are all my reasons. Thank you." 
-A Beautiful Mind