Observing
pensiveness is, I imagine, a lot like looking for something you've
never seen. The Loch-Ness monster, bigfoot, size 80 lederhosen, the
Loch-Ness monster's lederhosen. For me, the list stops there. Seeing
as how I haven't found anything I haven't seen, I'm not really
capable of drawing from personal experience. Qualifications aside, I
can point to a term called the “known unknown.” It means
something we know that we don't know. Pensiveness exists; we have a
word for it. A real word, not some made-up, Carrolian word of which I
am, admittedly, fond. It is etymologically old, and probably French
or something. Anyway, we know it exists, but we lack proof. You can't
see it. You yourself have (maybe) been pensive before, but the moment
you look in a mirror, the pensiveness is gone. You can see it on
other people's faces, theoretically, but identifying
it is like locating something small in something large. Or something
smaller in something small. Was that pensiveness that smothered his
face, and swallowed his expression? Was it constipation? Was it the
sun in his eyes? Was it even a real face? What IS a face anyway?
*Ahem*
I
was
going to rail against modern society, and the lack of emphasis placed
on thought. That plan disintegrated
the moment I began to pensate
on it. I spent no less than 12 minutes this morning being pensive
about various...varieties
of breakfast cereal. I feel like that's not even abnormal for my
average day, but specific examples elude me. Suffice
it to say, I think subject
is
irrelevant. Depth is important, and eyebrows probably play a part.
Also, depth of eyebrows are probably metaphysically related, Mr.
Cromagnon. Sorry, eyebrow.
I
guess what I'm trying to say is that pensiveness exists as long was
we believe it does. It is very much like faeries
in that respect. I
mean, I guess that's what I'm saying. I'm not afraid of admitting it.
Faeries are something I'm often pensive about. Anyway,
proving
its existence is impossible, but dismissing it as nonexistent is akin
to admitting that you spend your life flitting from one topic to
another without giving any of them consideration. *CouFACEBOOKgh*.
Oops. No scathing social analysis. My bad. Really, that's more like
Twitter anyway. Then again, I have seen expressions which I have
interpreted as pensive on a fellow homosapien's face while was,
indeed refreshing his Facebook profile for the 8th
time in as many seconds. Deep
in thought. While I'm spitballing here, I may as well point out that
he may not have been paying any attention at all to his profile, and
perhaps was, in fact, contemplating his fingers, or choice of
long-sleeved clothing. Who knows? Who
knows, indeed. Think about it.
It
occurs to me that the definition, while implied, is not explicit, and
perhaps, not obvious. To be pensive is to be deeply engaged in
serious thought. Which, I suppose, introduces another variable. What
serious thought constitutes for one person is probably brushed past
by another. Breakfast cereal, for example. How often do you let your
mental processes linger on its many facets? Gleaming gems are there
to be discovered, if you only take the time to brush off the dirt.
Or, in this case, sugar-coating. Granted, I'm hard pressed to
actually identify any of said gems at the moment, but something
must have captivated me and my attention for all that time. I'm
getting off-topic again; I guess that means I'm done. Exit question
and challenge: What makes
you pensive? If the answer is nothing, try to
think more,
dummy.
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