Changing our minds happens constantly as we come to a decision about any matter.  A Change of Mind is us attempting to exert control on our lives, responding to the stimulus or inputs we receive from our world.

It can be the little things, like what shoes to wear for an activity, or which color fabric to use in a project, or the big things, such as whether to buy a house, move overseas, or flee a difficult situation.  We argue the pros and cons to ourselves, reject or accept certain facts and assumptions, weigh up the impact on ourselves and perhaps others, and eventually decide what we are going to do.  Then sometimes, do it all again and arrive at a different decision.  We change our minds.

Many people see this as being indecisive, and it certainly can be if it takes you 17 attempts to work out which shoes to wear every morning, but a change of mind can also be a positive thing.  It means you may have thought more deeply or clearly about your choices, realigned yours’ or others’ needs in your own priority list, taken advice from someone or found new information that has helped you settle on a course of action.

Change of Mind can also mean that your mind is changing.  Your ability to make decisions may be hindered or lost because of ageing, illness or an acquired brain injury.  This is where the physical impacts on the consciousness.

I made a quilt a few years back about how I felt while I was having chemotherapy for Stage 3 breast cancer (6 years clear and going strong).  I include it here only because I was reflecting on how chemo impacted my thought process.  I described my brain as a HOT MESS at the time, unable to hold a thought, to focus, to look beyond the now and what needed to be done to survive, constantly changing my mind.

Our ageing populations mean that we are more likely to deal with the illnesses of age, either as a caregiver or as an individual needing care ourselves.  My experience with elderly family members in recent years has shown me that the diagnosis included age-related dementia, but the manifestation was constant change of mind, inability to rationalize decisions and eventually the inability to make decisions at all.

I think this prompt provides many opportunities for us to express a range of emotions, situations and aspects of our everyday lived existence.  I look forward to the end of November when we each reveal our response.