I tend to be a verbal processor. I need to talk about what’s in my head and think aloud. There are times where my thoughts feel unfinished because I haven’t been able to really talk it through.
I miss my college days where evenings, classes, mealtimes and everything in between was filled with conversation that allowed my brain to thoroughly process. There were plenty of people to talk to and plenty of time to do so.
These days, time is scarce and so are friends. Well, friends that have lots of time to linger and ponder are few and far between. It’s also a lot harder to give up that brain space when it’s filled with what needs to be packed for lunch, lines from the recent play that my kid needs to memorize, the projects at work that need to get done and all the holiday things that need to get done.
I have become an expert at distracting myself because thinking and giving myself space to think is hard. It means that I may have to change and take a different path. It means that I may have to do hard things or be uncomfortable. Most days, I don’t want to do that because I already feel uncomfortable. I can’t imagine adding more of that on top of everything.
But I know that my brain needs to finish this thinking because until it does, it seems like I’m going to be staring at a blank page for a long time.
How do you create space to think?
© 2011 Andrew Ostrovsky
