Thinking … and even doing

/ MR

Thinking’s an interesting activity – far more so than most of the regular ones on offer to anyone like me.

Sighh … and now I’m obliged to define ‘like me’ – what a dickhead I am !

Well, that’s a beginning – I’m a dickhead, for starters. And then, I’m no longer young; no longer in possession of any noticeable degree of tolerance; no longer fat; and the key thing I want to get across is that I’m definitely no longer interested in watching drama on screens of any size.

Tonight when I’d finished glomming down my favourite food – Woolworths frozen (but thawed in the microwave !) blueberries and Greek-style yoghurt – and this combo has been eaten for brekkie and dinner every day since last October … when I finished, as I say, I realized that Boodie was ensconced on my recliner with me, tucked tightly between my knees. Now, as any cat person understands clearly, having a cat sitting on you means that you cannot change position. Well, not until the cat does, anyway. I’ve finished crocheting the back, the two fronts and the two sleeves of a new cardi and had intended to start assembly; but it’s all on the crochet table and out of reach.     😦

So I hauled up the laptop, opened my browser and went to my BritBox shortcut. After some wandering about its CRIME DRAMA menu I re-found a program I’d been watching and picked up from where I’d left off. A British police crime story set in Dublin (which looks truly dreary, I hafta say) about a Mancunian policewoman trying to solve her daughter’s murder and care for her two Irish grandchildren. (It was easy to remember what was going down when I’d last switched off. At least, I thought it was; but I’d remembered a totally different program !)

After ten minutes Boodie shifted position, distracting me; and I realized I was thinking about a new coffee shop in the CBD I discovered on Google and how I’ll go and look at it tomorrow, and— you get the picture. I had lost interest in the program roughly two minutes after starting it up.

I’m pretty sure this loss of interest in the final stage of an activity in which I once participated to earn my living is a result of being old. I’m not whingeing nor going to whinge coz I’m not characterized by my age, and there is a second possibility – the failing I’ve written about before: loss of ability to focus / concentrate. That failing was posted about in relation to reading; but it strikes me that watching stories on a screen (fact or fiction) is the same kind of activity as reading them on a page, requiring one to Pay Attention. And I don’t seem to be able to do that except when I’m conversing with a person or persons.

And yet that statement is actually untrue and uttered prior to thinking about it: I can Pay Attention to things I do on my own – of course I can. If I couldn’t I’d be where my eldest sister is now, in a care home.

So OK, so it must be how much interest I have in whatever it is, mustn’t it ?

But no: that would mean that I’m not interested in reading … oh, say, my favourite author’s novels – and that’s not at all true ! I remember when I first discovered them, through one my second-eldest sister sent me that made me buy all the other eight immediately. I was in love !!!

Still, since then I’ve been able to buy six of them as audiobooks; and the readers are pretty good … Hmmmm … sheer laziness ? Delight in discovering that a good reader can bring a book to life and let you find out all the little bits you missed because you skip when you’re reading ?

So why don’t I give a rat’s arse about television or movies any more ?

32 thoughts on “Thinking … and even doing”

  2. I have no idea MR… But can I suggest that it is indeed age which is changing what you are interested in? I spent a lot of time with octogenarians, nonagenarians, and, briefly, centenarians from 1994 to 2021 and I saw a lot of changing interests, and desire to concentrate, but very little reduction in brain power.

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      • No, a lack of interest… Mum still did cryptic crosswords when she was 90, Dad still did his own tax returns until about 97. They just lost interest in dramatic stories. Mum still loved Austen for example. For my MIL, her brain was still fine when she died at 97 but eyesight badly affected her ability to enjoy reading/watching things.

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        • Now that is pertickly interesting, Sue ! – the bit about you revered ma still liking Austen … because the loss of interest in DRAMA – that’s it, isn’t it ? 🙂 And it has nothing to do with not being able to cope with drama, or anything so— dramatic ! [grin] It’s just that I cannot lose myself in stories any more.

          (And nothing WordPress can do will persuade me to join those last two words: they were, are and always will be separate !)

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  3. It was said years ago that television is a vast wasteland. And I don’t think anything there has changed. I think it’s us and our aging (aka shortening) attention spans. At least that’s what I’ve read. I have the same problem with tv. Occasionally I get really engrossed, but usually I’m also doing something else (laptop, phone, etc.), meaning neither is getting my full attention.

    (And absolutely, cat on lap means don’t move!)

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  4. I’ve never been terribly interested in television or film; I love to read, though. I think it has to do with pacing; I can read as quickly or slowly as I want. Which means most of the time I’m reading while knitting, and that’s slower.

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  5. I used to like horror splatter movies in my younger days and I would read any kind of books. Interests change as we age, as everyone has indicated. I can’t stand splatter zombie movies anymore, can barely tolerate sci-fi and only watch Scandi shows on TV – subtitled. It helps my language skills, I love the scenery and the crime plots are a puzzle to solve. But I have heard of this declining interest in drama as we age, either from lack of being able to concentrate on a book, to zero interest in other people’s problems – be they fiction or non-fiction. Perhaps we wear out a genre? The genres change too and I don’t always like the changes. Our needs differ as we get older too, I think. But I am glad you are still able to concentrate on good stories in books, M.R. These days I prefer writing them and can’t find enough time to read stories.
    As for the cat – can’t relate – but if it were the dog. For sure, I wouldn’t move.

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        • We’re all one-eyed about the kind of pet we love, eh ? – even we mothers of moggies. F’rinstance, I feel strongest about tabbies with white bellies, legs and throats. Although with cats, of course, there are fewer breeds to choose between … although cat-breeders seem determined to introduce as many of the squashed-in nose kinds that they can, regardless of their breeding animals with breathing problems. Why people like either cats or dogs with squashed noses is beyond me.

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  6. I also don’t fully understand the latest fashion for brachycephalic pet breeds. Is that the right word for the look? Must be purely fashion as I don’t find that attractive or healthy.
    Funny how your taste can be so specific although I myself prefer the salt n pepper or black n silver coat to the black Schnauzer coat.

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  9. You described so well that sudden jolt when a person realises their mind was elsewhere ! For me it’s never been an age thing, unfortunately. A school report from when I was eight years old states “Patrick is easily distracted.”

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  10. M-R, I will stream a TV program that I want to watch and five minutes later, I’m on my phone checking social media. Then I realize I missed an important part of the show and have to rewind and watch again. How silly, huh? Attention deficit at its best!

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Go on - you can say it. :)