Saturday, February 6, 2010

Clutter


Yesterday I did something I haven't done in a very long time. Away from my kids, hubby, cell phone/email, computer, TV, and radio, I sat, still and quiet, and cleared the clutter out of my mind.

After ten minutes of attempting to rid my brain of "To Do" lists, reflections, and random intrusive tangents, my thoughts were silenced for a few blissful moments of peace. As the intrusions gradually began to poke their way back into my consciousness, I shooed them away and focused on nothing. It calmed me to the core of my being.

I know I'm not inventing anything new here. Meditation has been a practice for eons. But, in our increasingly hectic society today, it seems our brains work on perpetual overdrive. People sleep less, and even in sleep we're often busy dealing with our dreams. We have to work harder to get our brains to relax.

The past two weeks have been so busy for me, I began to notice a lack of focus creeping into my writing as I continued to work on my novel. I realized I'd been trying so hard to use every spare moment of time I had to get something written down that I hadn't given myself any time to envision how I wanted my current chapter to evolve. It reminded me that thinking time is as important as writing time, more specifically, focused thinking time, not running through a scene while driving, grocery shopping, making dinner, or any number of activities. So, I've decided not to feel guilty if my word count is low this week, because I've reached a point in my story where the thinking time really needs to come first.

4 comments:

  1. Yeah, just don't let the thinking turn into two months of writing very little. My brain hijacked the thinking time and has been holding writing for ransom.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the fine art of thinking is a lost skill. I'm trying to rediscover it and take time to ponder. Hope you find your center.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Deb, you're right. Balance is the key. I was sad about not making my word count goal this week, but the rare focused thinking time helped me make a couple of breakthroughs in my story which I hope will make it better. Next week, I'm determined to reach my weekly goal again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah, thinking time. I've come to realize I'd have more of it (and writing time) if I watched less tv. Thus, my new goal...no more Grey's Anatomy.

    ReplyDelete