Thinking, Not Out Loud

Have you ever felt like you're standing on the edge of a precipice, immersed in thought and on the brink of beginning to understand some great cosmological constant? I feel like that sometimes. Like some great human understanding is just tantalizingly out of reach. Of course it's possible this may be just some great internal delusion. But it's as if, for just an instant, your brain has awoken from some long dormant state and is demanding attention from your soul.

And then in a flash, it's gone.

I have long been pondering the underlying root condition of successful personal relationships. Why? Good lord I have no idea. It sounds like a dreadful waste of time. But no, that's not really true. It's on my mind more and more these days, as I forge onward into my status as a "single" person.

In life, relationships come and go. I'm sure I've written this before, but the reality is that all relationships can have only two possible endings: a breakup or death. There's no other way for it to conclude. (At this point, firm believers in an afterlife must be beside themselves and wanting to assert that relationships can and do continue past this life. That they can, in fact, last "forever"). Isn't that depressing? Neither one of those conclusions is particularly positive. It does not bode well for us humans, as we struggle so hard throughout our lives to maintain these relationships. To what end? Death or a breakup.

Anyways.

As I'm now (again) in between relationships, I again am pondering: what is it that makes successful relationships, well, successful? All sorts of cliche answers come to mind. Communication. Respect. Common values. And so on. And sure, these are all important points to maintaining a successful relationship. But I'm looking for something deeper. Something under the surface which can, dare I say, predetermine a relationship's capacity for success.

I think it lies in the brain.

No, really. What if what we really need is simply someone who exists on the same intellectual plane as we do. I say "simply" but it's really anything but. Perhaps, at our core, we need someone who can think like we do, and can inspire us to continue using our brain. We need to be...intellectually stimulated. No amount of communication or counseling or respect or whatever can save us, if our brain has shut down due to boredom.

Of course, everyone has a different level at which their brain becomes bored. We're all unique like that. Perhaps in the future, brain mapping will supplant fingerprinting in the identification process.

Am I crazy? Maybe, maybe. Maybe I'm just tired. Maybe I'm onto something. Really, I'm just thinking. But not out loud. That might get me committed. Or something.