The percolating can be slow, and then I don’t notice it at all. The idea or the image is just floating through the grey matter in my skull waiting for a fortuitous collision that will bring it to the fore again. Or the percolating can be active and fast…of course when the percolating is going full steam I look totally zoned out. Staring out the window, eyes unfocused. Staring through the floor. If you come upon me in this state, I am not a zombie…I am just thinking.
I love the word woolgathering. Yes, part of the reason is that I like sheep (someday we’d like to have a sheep or a goat or two; if you own a farm you aren’t using, send it to us!)…but it’s also the perfect word for the process that occurs and the feeling that I get when I am percolating with a full head of steam. There’s an almost physical sensation of speed inside my head, and my eyes get dry (could have something to do with the staring). I can almost feel the connections being made...like thousands of fibers all curling in and around each other (like wool!). Often this doesn’t produce any great ideas…but sometimes :-)