Every so often, the Thought of the Day and Question of the Day land on opposite ends of the spectrum, one is painfully practical, the other utterly whimsical. Today is one of those days. On one hand, we’ve got some sound advice about how not to end up in the ER with a really awkward story. On the other, we’re wondering what occupies the dream life of a sea creature with three hearts, blue blood, and a brain in each arm. Let’s dive in.
Thought of the Day: Don’t do any activities that you wouldn’t want to explain to paramedics.
This is one of those lines that sounds funny until you actually picture it. Imagine lying on a stretcher, oxygen mask on, and a calm paramedic asks, “So what exactly were you doing when this happened?”
Do you really want your answer to be:
- “I thought I could balance on the kitchen counter while changing a lightbulb.”
- “I was trying to see if the golf cart could make it down the hill backward.”
- “I wanted to know if duct tape really counts as protective gear.”
It’s the kind of rule that makes you rethink not just reckless stunts but also the smaller, everyday risks. Do I really want to be explaining to a paramedic that I tripped because I was carrying all the groceries in one trip like it was an Olympic event? Probably not.
This thought reminds me of something I wrote about the choices that seem small in the moment but carry bigger consequences than we realize—like the reflections in Missing the Obvious and The Crisis that becomes the joke. Both are about slowing down before life (or gravity) does it for you.
Question of the Day: What do you think Octopuses dream about?
This is where the imagination kicks in. Studies show octopuses experience REM-like sleep, which suggests they dream. The question is…dream about what?
Maybe they replay hunting adventures, chasing crabs across the seafloor like underwater cowboys. Maybe they dream in colors, flashing their skin patterns like living fireworks. Or maybe, just maybe, they dream of us—strange, clumsy land creatures who only have one heart and can’t even change color to match the couch.
I like to think their dreams are stories of possibility: eight-armed adventures, ink-cloud escapes, and epic games of underwater hide-and-seek. And if octopuses really are the closest thing to aliens we’ve got on this planet, then their dreams might be the kind of science fiction we haven’t even imagined yet.
This question feels like a cousin to when I asked What do you love about the night?—a chance to look at the world sideways and wonder about the unseen, the unknown, the delightfully odd.
Your Turn
So here’s today’s mix: practical wisdom and playful wonder. Don’t land yourself in the ER with an embarrassing story, and do spend a moment wondering what octopuses dream about.
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