I Can Read Your Mind

Disclaimer: Slightly off topic, but fun, just the same…

A funny thing happened on the way to clicking the “publish” button.

Here’s the story. The names have not been changed because no one is innocent enough to need protecting.

I read lots of blogs. No, I mean it….LOTS of blogs. In the beginning, I tried to be the dutiful blog commenter that we all try to be on every blog I visited. I soon realized that unless I wanted to give up all of my hopes and aspirations in my career, I had to whittle my commenting frenzy down a bit. But….I still read….LOTS of blogs.

It would seem intuitive that with all of the reading that I do each and every day, one of two things will happen. One…I will start to mix up my own thoughts, ideas and/or cleverness with those of the people that I am reading. Or two…at some point, there has to be a saturation point reached where all of the thoughts, ideas and cleverness have already been addressed or shared in one way or another. I mean, really….ideas for our blog posts have to be finite, right? There has to be some sort of “it’s already been said” point that is reached.

Well, this weekend, I was working on another very clever if not genius blog post for Social Media DDS. I keep a list of titles on my desktop sticky notes as they come to me. Many moons ago, I was having one of “those” days where I felt that I was on a collision course with life. You’ve probably experienced a day or two like that. The phrase that came to me at that time was “When Worlds Collide”. It rang true for that moment but my muse didn’t take me any further than the title. So I let it sit on my StickyNotes and just simmer for awhile.

And I continued my voracious blog reading habit. Stopping off at the likes of Lori Gosselin, Kaarina Dillabough, Bill Dorman, Melody Fletcher, TheJackB, Barbara Klein, Jeanne Hewell Chambers and Craig McBreen to name just a few.

So this past Sunday, I found myself suddenly re-loving “my” clever title of “When Worlds Collide”. This time, my muse and I were on a roll. The words flowed. I even cleverly back linked to a relevant post by Jack. And the image that I got from Fotolia was perfect. Yea…this was going to be legend….wait for it….dary….

I scheduled the post to run on Tuesday morning, 7AM sharp. I had that sense of accomplishment that most of us get when we get a blog post written. It’s off of our radar screen and we can get back to focus on that which lies before us. Monday night I had the dubious pleasure of sitting in on a zoning meeting and, to prevent myself from dozing off, I occupied myself by reading some blogs. I happened on Bill’s post for this week and glanced at his post from last week. Now, mind you, I had actually read that post AND I had commented on it. Guess what the title was….yup….When Worlds Collide.

Really?!?!?!?

And as if my subliminal title copying wasn’t enough, his more recent post for this week, Sucking Sand: When the Well Runs Dry had a back link to the exact same post by Jack that I used in my WWC post.

I panicked. For a couple of reasons. One, I had to quickly stop the scheduled publishing of my WWC post for the next morning. But two…has it come to this? Are no ideas original anymore? Have I so over-saturated my brain with the beautiful words and prose of so many dear blogger friends that I can no longer see the line that separates my words from theirs?

I shot a fast email over to oh-so-kind-and-understanding-Bill to share the weirdness of this story. With typical Bill humor, he wanted to know if I was “in his head”?

But the bigger question is…

Have we reached the point where we are all in each other’s heads?

This is not the first time that this has happened to me…Lori Gosselin and I have had a couple of “I can read your mind” experiences with ideas for posts.

Have you experienced this? What are your thoughts?

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13 comments

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WordsDoneWrite

Hi Claudia,

Interesting story. I don't believe I've ever done this, but I can see how it would happen. I have, however, been on the receiving end of it.

For example, someone posting on my blog post about said topic and then within hours or days that commenter writes about the same topic. Is this an honest "worlds collide" comment or are they intentionally ripping off the idea? If it were you, I'd know it has nothing deceitful. However, in other circumstances, I've felt like it was intentional theft.

As you say, though, those who hang out together are bound to have similar ideas. I can see how it could happen.

By the way, what was it like in Bill's head? I kind of imagine it having a disco ball and strobe lights...

Hajra

1 Like

Ah yes, one of my blogging friends Janine and I actually had three posts that were just the same... we started acknowledging each other!

It just make me feel happy that somewhere, someone is just as weirdly wired up as I am! :)

SocialMediaDDS

@Hajra Why is it that you always make me laugh Hajra? "someone is just as weirdly wired up as I am"....LOL... I guess what I am seeing here is that we are usually "drawn" to people who think a lot like us to begin with so, it should be no surprise that we are "creating" similar posts. That said....I just want to be clear here....I CAN read @bdorman264 's mind ;-)

Lori

1 Like

Hi Claudia,

Yes, I am seeing this a lot - similar topics, similar streams of consciousness! I'm not sure what causes it but wait while I see if @DeliberateBlog has been here yet - because she has an answer. She and I have been writing about the same topics for a while now! We're all in this together, so maybe it's not surprising as like attracts like and I for one like all you guys!

I wonder if I'll run out of ideas. My coach says, "About LIFE?" but yes, every week I think I'm going to run out of ideas that inspire me to write and every week I find a couple more! In a way, I think it's a good thing. It keeps us on our toes - watching and paying attention. I'd say more about this but I've already written a post about inspiration to run in the next few weeks ;-)

Lori

SocialMediaDDS

@Lori @DeliberateBlog Hahahaha... I love your dialogue with your coach....I can almost hear him say with disbelief "About LIFE"???? LOL... the difference is that, while life itself has endless stories/topics, the "pressure" to create a topic ABOUT life is a bit different.

I am interested in hearing what Melody may say about this. I do think that the common agreement here is that 1.) when we seek out like minded people in our lived (both IRL and online) we are bound to have like minded ideas, thoughts and topics. and 2.) there are no original ideas...and like I said to @KDillabough and @bdorman264 ....all ideas are variations on a theme.

Thank you kind @lorigosselin I appreciate your insight and your visit!

DeliberateBlog

@SocialMediaDDS @Lori Hey ladies! Of course there are going to be instances where two or more people tap into the same stream of thought. We all have similar vibrations on certain topics, or we would not be in each others lives. And sometimes, we match up more closely than others. But... none of us will ever have the exact same perspective. We can't. So, even if you and I write about the exact same topic and even have the same view on it, we will not present that message in the exact same way. And one person who read both posts will not come away with the same thing from both.

I teach the Law of Attraction. Granted, lots of people do, and a lot of what's out there is crap. But I'm finding more and more teachers who teach EXACTLY what I do, only they are using their own words and perspective. So, instead of thinking "Damn, they've already covered that, now I can't", I get excited by the fact that these ideas are spreading. If they weren't there wouldn't be more teachers out there. I also think of it this way: Let's take a subject like Math. 2+2=4. Math is pretty constant. You can't interpret it one way or another, at least not until you get to really high levels. But... you could get a vastly different understanding of Math concepts depending on which teacher you have. One may write all the formulas on the board and ask you to memorize them. A couple of people in the class will just "get" it and be happy that the teacher didn't waste their time. Others will be stumped. Another teacher will tell stories and create visuals that bring the math to life and other students will get it, but not all. So, even though the concepts you're writing about may have already been put out there, your unique perspective and style will make those concepts accessible to people who are looking for that clarity but haven't found it until now. We're not all writing for the same audience. K? K.

I think you should still publish your "When Worlds Collide" Post, Claudia. Why the hell not? I'm sure your post adds an interesting new perspective. :o)

Huge hugs!

Melody

KDillabough

As I said in my reply to @bdorman264 , I do think that there are waves of thought similarity/consciousness that pervade (invade?) the blogosphere, such that we're often on the same wavelength. But just like there's really no "original" thought on the planet (everything's a configuration/change in perspective/add-on/build-on to something that already exists, since everything is energy), there's no need to get upset when worlds collide. Plagiarism is a no-no: coincidence and synchronicity are simply a fact of life. Cheers! Kaarina P.S. Thanks so much for the lovely tip of the hat to my blog in your post @SocialMediaDDS Much appreciated!

SocialMediaDDS

@KDillabough @bdorman264 I too believe that there are no "original" thoughts...it's all a variation on a theme. And I love the phrase synchronicity to describe these cool occurences...Okay Bill....we were synchronous. How does that sound?

bdorman264

2 Like

I have had a few 'deja vu' all over again moments.........what's even better is when you write almost the identical post as someone else but they are higher on the social rung than you so they get all the accolades while the rest of us toil in obscurity. What am I, chopped liver?

I do think we tend to get on the same wavelength at times; especially those of us who hang out together.

Just pay me my royalties and all will be good.............oh wait, you did send the picture so I guess we can call it even.

If your mind is thinking like my mind, I don't know if I should be concerned for you or smile because 'we' know something nobody else knows..........:).

Thanks for sharing and linking ma'am. I hope you have a great day.

KDillabough

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@bdorman264 She sent you a picture? Even when I told her not to, haha? Just kidding. But yes, there is a synchronicity and no coincidence to the worlds colliding on social. It's like successive waves of thought are simultaneously percolating in our brains and, without effort, flow (or crash) forward. And yeah...it's a pain when the "A-lister" writes essentially the same type of content, is seen as the second-coming, and we remain chopped liver. Ah well...such is life. Cheers! Kaarina

bdorman264

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@KDillabough We are morphing into one.........:)

KDillabough

@bdorman264 We are indeed. Just sayin'...:)))))

SocialMediaDDS

1 Like

@bdorman264 Thank YOU for finding the humor in this. I do think there is a sort of "like mindedness" that can be found between people that "hang" together. And all I can tell you kind sir is be careful what you are thinking...I might be more "powerful" than you know ;-).