The Forgotten Thought Place

Is there a place where forgotten thoughts go? These thoughts sit around in a waiting room, or, a holding tank; maybe something like a prison cell, waiting for the moment when, whomever it was that at one time thought them, remembers them once again? Does some sort of warden or jailer come into the cell and gruffly shout out, “You! “Forgotten Thought Number 7,821; otherwise known as “Hmmm…should I take an Italian class this year?” Get over, here, you’ve been re-thought!”

Can these forgotten thoughts only be re-thought by their original thinker, or, can they be re-allocated to another person that might have had that very same thought at some other point in time? Are there several of the same forgotten thoughts hanging out together in this cell? “That corner over there, that’s where the “Don’t forget to buy cat litter” thoughts assemble, and over there, those are the “What was I going to do when I got upstairs?” thoughts.”?

Or, is there only one of these thoughts in existence, such that, if that thought is occupied, it cannot be thought of at that same time by anyone else in the universe?

Are there possibly many similar thoughts, with, perhaps, slight variations in how and when they were thought? One might be a long, drawn out thought and another might be fleeting? One might arrive in the middle of the night, while another one materializes when one is shaving one’s legs?

Could the same concept go for long-forgotten objects? Is there a special holding tank for mis-placed people, places and things? Former co-workers? Ex-lovers? Your grandparent’s old farmhouse that you used to visit frequently but have long since let slip out of your mind? Pets you used to have? Books you read but don’t recall? Cars that your parents used to drive? Things that you put down and then never found again, e.g., earrings, half-written letters, the odd tube of lipstick, the little latch keys that are hung over the doorways to bathrooms so that little children cannot get locked inside them?

What about emotions? Haven’t you heard someone exclaim “That sunset was so awesome, I forgot to be sad!” or, “The situation was so absurdly funny, I forgot that I was angry!”?

Are “Sad” and “Angry” hanging out in a cell somewhere too? Sad is sitting over in the corner steadily weeping while Angry bangs on the iron bars demanding to be let out?

This cell (or cells) could be quite the interesting place to visit, or, it could be quite alarming.

Could you imagine walking into this cell and being simultaneously bombarded by all of your forgotten thoughts and misplaced nouns (people, places and things)? Come to think of it, this could be a new sort of capital punishment; death by all of the thoughts and nouns in your life that you carelessly forgot or misplaced.

Or, maybe that punishment would be more fitting if the condemned was attacked only by their forgotten thoughts and misplaced nouns that were mean, hurtful, shameful, scary, evil and sad?

Can you imagine what the enactment of your death sentence might be?

And, for those people that are, for the most part, honorable and decent and loving and caring, well, perhaps their reward is just the opposite. At their end, they will walk into a room full of their loving, generous, happy, sweet, warm and caring forgotten thoughts and misplaced nouns.

Maybe I’ve simply just described one concept of heaven and hell.