Wow. A kindred spirit. My wife tries to rein me in a lot, but she sort of understands that my mind runs a bit chaotic. I would never let her in on all of the stuff that I was thinking. I know that stare too well.

I can completely relate. The mounds of unfinished projects the hundreds of dollars spent on each one or all of them combined. The comments from the unbelievers like "that just gonna wind up in the closet/attic in 6 months like all the other stuff?". So encouraging and supportive. Totally there with ya.

Sheesh.. maybe I need to get myself tested for ADD. *laughs* That sounds like me, minus the fight. :) But then again.. I wouldn't take any medication that'd slow my mind down. I don't want it slowed down.

I thought that's how everyone's mind worked. You know.. always going, all the time. It must be awfully boring for those who don't have 15 ideas going at once..

My husband says he can think of "nothing". Just a clear mind. !? Oh man, I can't even begin to imagine how that must be. I can't do that hahaha.

I think it would be REALLY boring to just work on one project. How is that useful? If you do several at once.. You can brainstorm on 3 others while you work on another. It all works out in the end just fine, thank you very much.

And then.. don't get me started on my conversations. My husband's just now figuring out how to keep up while I hop from topic to topic. Hey, it makes sense to me. Not my fault people can't keep up. You're still with me on all of this yes?

*deep breath* Okay I think I'm done now. Well, actually, not really.. but I have other stuff to go work on *laughs*

Should it scare me that I understand exactly what you're saying? That this is the way I think, too? I know it's hard to follow and sometimes infuriating, my friends tell me so, but they also (the ones I know are good friends) tell me that it's one of the things they like best about me. That I'm ferociously non-linear and they love seeing what will come flying out next.

Far be it from me to give you advice on anything here, but I hope, I really hope, you won't attempt to force your thoughts into a "normal" or average pattern. There's nothing wrong with being organized, but to be creative you have to be alive to the core of chaos inside you.

d.

OMG, I have had this converstaion (damn near word for word) with my SO quite a few times before...thats just scary.

PG, maybe you could form some sort of support group...seems like there are quite a few of us that all do the same things.

I just wish that ONCE, I could finish something that I started COMPLETELY. I have so many things going at once, I would daresay that I ever get any of them accomplished. or at least..NOT to my liking. I will go back and redo, rethink, rehash...and then forget about the entire thing, to never revisit it again

To join the already resounding chorus, you have described my thought process exactly. My parents and nephew all agree wholeheartedly. As far as I can tell from the other ADD'ers that I have spoken to they all describe very non linear thought processes, and also hindered normal learning but have helped in their fields of expertise, which is generally computer or science. A support group is a good idea(or at least a support site) but I wonder if it would be maintainable, as many people suffer the same problems.

That was a problem with my ex-girlfriend...she wanted me to share, but she never liked what I had to share.

... but "E" is missing ??!

Of course "E" is missing:
"(and then there is [E] which is something important that I totally forgot about)"

How could it be there if I forgot about it? LOL

I actually had to abbreviate the mental image, I simply didn't have time to make all the thought baloons I'd need. Plus I'd not only use all the english letters, but then I'd have to move on through the Greek alphabet!

That sounds exactly like my mind, but you sound more at ease with it than I am. My problem is that, on top of all these things going on in my head, I have an extremely poor memory (short and long term) so as soon as my thoughts have gone from A to B, A disappears. Consequently, unless someone prompts me, a lot of things never get done. Even making a cup of tea takes hours because by the time the kettle has boiled I've forgotten about it.
Luckily my wife accepts my shortcomings and frequently reminds me what I'm supposed to be doing.

I simply have to road trip to OKC. A conversation in person between the two of us would be so freakin' hysterical. You bounce around just as much as I do - which is a good thing, because you would be among the few that can follow along. I'll be talking about one thing, and then a sentence later change topic. Most people say "whoa. How did you end up there?" Well, you were talking about your Aunt. And my Aunt likes the color blue. You know, there were some blue pants at the store that I really liked. Oh, the store ... I need to go to Wal-mart. Want to go? Yeah, like that - only it happens in a nanosecond.

It's not ADD. Oh no, we just mentally multi-task, and we do it a lot better the most people. *wink*