"Can't Get Myself to Go Away"

"Reach down your hand in your pocket; pull out some hope for me. It's been a long day... and I can't get myself to go away." So sings the band Matchboz 20 in one of their songs. I think that is rather insightful into the human condition. Sometimes we realize we're our own worst problem, but we can't get ourselves to go away. Sometimes I get tired of thinking my own thoughts. I just want my thoughts to be silent (no, I'm not talking about hearing voices!) or to be new and different or to have different issues to think about. It would be fun to trade minds with someone else once in a while, to see what it's like to think completely differently and to deal in a different reality. Maybe trade minds with a great artist or musician, an engineer, a bizillionaire, a pauper, a leader in a different religion, a leader in a different political party, someone on the other side of the world. What would it be like to really experience someone else's thoughts? Refreshing? Terrifying? Humbling? Inspiring? Maybe that's partly why people read books... to get some fresh thoughts on things. Or do we mostly just read what confirms our own viewpoints anyway? Maybe I need a new book.