I can remember, when I was in college, irritating deeply somebody I was going out with, because he would ask me what I was thinking and I would say I was thinking nothing. And it was true.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
At university, I said to a girl, 'Before I met you all I could think about was history; now, all I can think about is you'. I thought that was the sort of thing you had to say.
I think it was when I ran into Kerouac and Burroughs - when I was 17 - that I realized I was talking through an empty skull... I wasn't thinking my own thoughts or saying my own thoughts.
I couldn't be in a relationship and behave like somebody else or pretend I felt something I didn't feel. And that includes saying things I thought might jeopardize the relationship.
Sometimes people complicate things by thinking too much about what someone might think of what they said or did.
I'm always like, 'I can't believe I sound like my mother.' I remember running out of the house telling, 'Put your shoes on or you're going to get sick!' That's an old wives' tale, but it's like some weird mind control that I would be like that.
I was frequently told at drama school that I was thinking too much. And I still have to suppress that part of me because it can sometimes be a hindrance.
During my years as a press secretary, I developed a powerful internal filter, which worked to strip all things 'off message' from my thoughts before they came out of my mouth. It didn't always work, of course, and I said more than a few things I regretted.
Have you ever had one of those moments when you look up and realize that you're one of those people you see on the train talking to themselves?
I'm used to being told what to say, but not what to think... that's usually left up to me.
I never went to school more than six months in my life, but I can say this: that among my earliest recollections, I remember how, when a mere child, I used to get irritated when anybody talked to me in a way I could not understand.