To Paint a Picture

This week's post is nothing profound or even all that serious. I recently wrote a paper for my future of mind class in which we came up with a working definition of consciousness. To start my paper I came up with a story that helped me to gain a slight inclination of how my mind works. It also makes for a pretty great, fun blog post ;) So, here is the story I created: A Picture Painted with Words

Close your eyes. Picture yourself standing beside your car, palms sweating and heart racing in anticipation. Each breath feels like an eternity. Then you hear it, the booming voice over the intercom. “All drivers to your cars please, all drivers to your cars.” Immediately you turn around, grab the handle and sling open the door. You hop into the seat, grab the keys, and click the seatbelt into place. You are now waiting for those four key words. You hear the distinct buzz of the intercom. Here we go. “Drivers, start your engines!” Immediately you turn your wrist, rotating the keys forward and the engine roars to life. Your eyes go wide. You jam your right foot to the floor, while simultaneously lifting your left off the clutch. The tach needle flies as the engine revs higher and higher. The tires squeal, leaving a cloud of smoke and burnt rubber on the pavement as the wheels gain traction. The tach redlines, you let off the gas, mash the clutch in, throw the gear selector down into second, then it’s left foot up, and right foot down – hard on the gas. In a matter of seconds, you’re in third, now fourth, your eyes catching a glimpse of the speedometer quickly climbing higher and higher…60...70…80…90, all the way past 120. Everything around you is a blur, but at the same time, it’s all in perfect focus. Your senses are heightened, the adrenaline courses through your veins like lightning, and at that very moment everything else just fades away. In that moment, nothing else matters. It’s just you, the car, and the road, but they’re not three separate things anymore. Somehow, they have become one – you have become one, with the speed force.
While reading this, you no doubt formed images in your mind of what this scenario looked like, but did you ever think that the images you came up with might be different than what I envisioned when making the story? For instance: what kind of car did you picture? What color was the paint? The interior? Was it clean or dirty, old or new? I’ll tell you what I saw. I pictured a pristine, 1967 Mustang. It’s a bright red-orange with a soft, black leather interior. The steering wheel is a smooth, glossy, oak wheel with a chrome center that matches the chrome of the gauges and contrasts beautifully with the black of the dash. The texture of the wheel feels just like the glossy, white shifter ball. The petals at my feet have a little bit of wear to them, but have just the right amount of resistance when you press them. The seat is comfortable, but not worn to the point where I sink down in it. I can feel the seat belt across my lap as it hugs me and the rumble of the engine courses through me as I sit in the seat. It’s a feeling like no other, yet I’m not really in this car. I am not actually experiencing anything I just described. My mind somehow filled in all of the details and it’s like I can almost feel the textures, see the colors, hear the sounds of this mind-made car. I am aware of all of the surroundings, even though none of them are real. Thank you consciousness for filling in the details.

You may not be a car fanatic like I am, but feel free to comment what you saw in your mind :)
Have a great week everyone!