I was lying down having a facial and a massage. I could hear the sound of a gurgling stream and scents like lemon and bergamot wafted past my nostrils. And to my surprise I found myself thinking about the wages I am paying a builder. What if he worked 10 hours a day instead of 8? What time was he starting? How do I convert 3/8 and then 3/10 of 150 into pound sterling?

And then I stopped and seriously considered “where are these thoughts coming from?”

“Why the hell am I thinking these thoughts?”

I thought more, now about thoughts I would like to think and then about whether I wanted to think in the first instance? And in the next moment resumed trying to relearn equations from high school; a thread of thinking attached to the builders wages and the shame I felt as a child and young adult being hopeless at maths under the cool gaze of my Grandfather; then a Professor of Mathematics, as this beautiful woman applied hot stones and oil to my shoulders and neck, massaging deeply. As she reached the top of my buttocks I realised that the building work was going to overrun schedule by at least 2 days. Or, maybe it wouldn’t!

Where the blistering blue barnacles are these thoughts coming from? Captain Haddock entered my mind and then disappeared. I was way too busy to take on a puppy dog although a dog like Snowy would be a fantastic companion?

Where…… are……… they……. coming….. from?!

Because I can tell you this.

THEY ARE NOT COMNG FROM ME.

I’m not interested how long the building work takes. All I really want to do is sit in silence with my eyes closed, experiencing serenity and peace. What are those thoughts? Where do they come from?

I am going to go about the rest of this day observing these incessant, theoretical, meddlesome, comical thoughts in the hope that eventually I will be able to command them to leave.