Hmmm... I wonder what life would be like without my favourite things

Hello dear friends and welcome once more to the world of Mildred!

For the last couple of days I have been visited by the cold-and-flu fairy. As a consequence, I have been experiencing moments of pure surrealism. And that, friends- is how this blog came to be. It is courtesy of the cold-and-flu fairy that what I am about to write is what you are about to read.

You see, I got to thinking about my life (as you do when you are ill and don't have very much to do) and I decided to list my top 10 favourite things in it. In case you are interested, they are (in no particular order):

1. I greatly enjoy the pastime of thinking.
2. I love the fact that I am in love with Dave.
3. I enjoy learning.
4. I absolutely love to sleep!
5. I like listening to music and playing musical instruments.
6. I try to laugh at least 5 times a day... and usually succeed.
7. I like writing... evidently, given that I keep a blog and also write music.
8. When I need a break from all the standing-up that I do in life, I greatly enjoy sitting down.
9. My favourite number is the one and only 13.
10. Lastly, I love to perform.

Then, after I'd made this list, I got to thinking about my life once again... only, I imagined it without my favourite things. That must sound very odd I know, but it was rather interesting. I don't know if you know this, but each one of my favourite things can also be a phobia. Did you know that? I didn't. But I do now. So, I decided to investigate further. Below is what my life would be like without the above:

1. Fear of thinking = Phronemophobia. This would be incredibly tricky to monitor as I think we're always thinking, aren't we? Plus, my friend Elsa just asked me if dreams count as thoughts, as aren't dreams an extension of your thoughts, courtesy of your subconscious? Hmmm, the more you try to define and restrict thinking, the more impossible it becomes... How do you stop yourself from thinking?  
2. Fear of falling in love = Philophobia. This is a shame... as if I hadn't fallen in love with my best friend Dave, I probably wouldn't be as happy as I am now. Plus, I can't imagine Dave not being in my life any more as it would be very boring.  
3. Fear of learning = Sophophobia. Oh dear, back in January, I made the new years resolution to learn something new everyday. This means that I'm going to fail my new years resolution for the rest of the year... and it's only February. Not good.
4. Fear of sleeping = Somniphobia. This is bad. If I couldn't sleep, I'd be useless at my life. Couple that with being scared to think, I really don't know what I'd do with all this extra time on my hands...
5. Fear of music = Melophobiva. Well this wouldn't be good. In fact, it would be awful. I play the piano, I listen to music and I write music. In an instant, all that is gone... pffft! And as Elsa just pointed out, I wouldn't be able to watch any films or much television either (unless I had the subtitles on and the volume muted). The radio would become a definite no-go zone too.
6. Fear of laughter = Geliophobia. No! Laughing is my favourite hobby! But most importantly, science says that laughter keeps you young... and if science has said it, it must be true.
7. Fear of writing = Graphophobia. Well, my blog would cease immediately and Musings of Mildred McManus would be no more. That would be a sad day indeed.
8. Fear of sitting = Thaasophobia. What a terrible phobia this would be. Standing all day would make your legs really tired, so you'd want to sit down... but no, you can't! And then, as if that isn't bad enough, you can't then go to sleep later on in the evening, after you've spent the whole day standing! I'm exhausted just thinking about this (even though I'm not supposed to be thinking).
9. Fear of the number 13 = Triskaidekaphobia. Well, I guess I'd have to change my lucky number. I only chose this number because it's so unlucky for so many, I figured it must at least be lucky for someone.
10. Fear of situations such as stage fright (at a performance) = Topophobia. I guess that I would never have gone to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for starters. But I suppose stage fright can be anything. You don't need to be stood in front of hundreds of people to experience this do you? Wow, this would be bad.

So there you have it. If I had all these phobias, life would be very bland. It would be a bit like a slice of wholemeal toast without butter or jam or anything on it. Just toast. And that- I think you'll agree, would be very dull. Which I suppose makes me glad that my life is filled with butter, jam and marmalade. Having got to the end of this blog I realise, I actually am quite lucky. But above all, I am very happy.

Mildred x

PS If I had all of these phobia's, that would make me a phobophobic (or someone who has a fear of phobias)!

Thank you to http://phobialist.com/#A- for the official phobia names.