Three Ways I’m Finding Time to Figure Out the Stuff That I Keep Putting Off Thinking About.

Photo by Farrel Nobel on Unsplash

Ever feel like you’re too busy — or too tired — to think? What if it’s your own fault?

In a recent session, my therapist noticed that I spend most of my down time in some form of learning. I read, I take online courses, I participate in zoom groups. She pointed out that this might be some kind of avoidance mechanism from spending time thinking about questions that make me uncomfortable.

“Oh,” I said, “look at the time! I have a webinar in five minutes!”

I need to give my brain the space and time for undistracted thinking.

A lot of people have been writing about this virtue of “solitude”. In the world of self-care, it’s tough love. Author Michael Erwin defines solitude as:

“…a subjective state… in which the mind, isolated from input from other minds, works through a problem on its own.” — Lead Yourself First

That doesn’t sound fun at all. But I’ve been sacrificing my journaling practice for these daily essays, and my life — like most other people’s — isn’t getting any less complicated.

Then the universe decided to reinforce my therapist’s suggestion with a car accident that happened while I was…