Habit #11: Daydreaming
Sometimes if one ponders a problem endlessly, he/she becomes fully confused, stuck in one’s own maze of a brain. Reliving, Rehashing, Rehearsing = a Rut. Thoughts will remain limited – Rigid – if one adheres to one well-worn path in one’s conscious mind.
While daydreaming is sometimes thought of as procrastination – teachers view it as drifting away or dilly-dallying from class work, making it a report card citation – the act is the genesis of the phrase ‘thinking outside the box’, with that black box being one’s own head.
Scientists at the University of British Columbia scanned the brains of people while they daydreamed and found that the habit activated brain regions linked with Problem-Solving abilities. Scintillating, Percolating, invigorating Schemes and Plans. Eureka, Progress Pops!
The reason daydreaming is so powerful is that the novel thoughts emerge from your unconscious mind. You can encourage your unconscious by performing a task you know so well that your mind is free to wander, easing out of that rut. Like when I craft cards or make beaded jewelry.
My unconscious mind is where some of my best, most free-flowing and fully-formed writing emerges. It’s prompted best by paper and pen…
Habit#12: unfastidious home cleanliness
This one I must fess up to: we over-rely on the cleaning crew that comes every two weeks. They take care of our clutter, dust, and scum, while we engage energies elsewhere that are more fun. (do we think they are daydreaming, Constant Reader?) Its the redundant futility of it all that yields me unwilling to clean. The sameness, the routine…
The germs. Good health is a priority here.
But, discovered a microbiology team at Arizona State University, cleaners don’t kill all household germs, even the ones specially labeled with guarantees. For which we paid more.
Larry favors a blue sponge with one scruffy size, while I prefer the Williams Sonoma plump-with-moisture kind that fits precisely in my hand. We use them to swab the sink, counters, and stove. Sometimes I swipe at a spot on the floor… Guess what I’m spreading throughout the kitchen. Germs and smarmy stuff.
Guess we need to use a new sponge or cloth for each spill – like the paper towels that cost ___/roll. Guess we shouldn’t make messes.
Guess we shouldn’t cook – let’s go out to eat! I feel healthier already, don’t you, Ms./Mr. Untidy Too?
Habit#13: snacking
Well, I didn’t exactly find a source that validated my propensity to snack, though every diet I’ve ever been on – and the one that I’ll be on soon – state that eating many small meals at regular intervals is best for one’s metabolism. Pardon me, the refrigerator is calling to me – and Trader Joe’s is just down the street, with gas at only $2.20/gallon…
Suffering has never been one of my habits.
It’s true! 6 small, protein-carb balanced meals every 2-3 hours boost that metabolism. 🙂
Thanks, Jessica. You da best coach – and I am the awefullest eater (mispelling intended)
I have started to daydream in my retirement, good to know it is helping my brain. I can sure be in a routine rut, so good to change it up sometimes!
Ain’t it grand to let your mind wander where it will, Cheryl, when it isn’t busily engaged in other people’s demands, requests, insistences! Yeah, retirement! Yeah for you!
Looking for someone to write a nonfiction story of my late wife. We met during WWII and were separated 9 days short of our 66th wedding anniversary, due to breast cancer she fought off for 15 years. We lived in The Groves senior community in Irvine at the time of her death.
My parents of Sicilian heritage were disappointed that I married a Scotch-Irish lass instead of an Italian gal. Ruth learned how to cook italian from her mother-in-law and my parents agreed that she outclassed their italian relatives in cooking italian dishes.
The first five years of our marriage were tumultuous. Wed in January of 1946, five weeks after my discharge from U.S. Navy. Spent 5 1/2 months in VA mental hospital in Brentwood, CA from Oct. 1949 to Apr.1950. Sons were 2 and 3 years of age at the time.
We moved to Huntington Beach in 1966, where we resided until 2002. Ruth had quadruple heart bypass surgery in 1996. She came down with breast cancer in 1997. After two years of treatment was in remission until 2006, when the cancer re-emerged. We had moved to The Groves senior community in 2002. Upon the re-emergence of the cancer she underwent monthly injections to keep the malady
in check.
PS: I took creative writing classes at Coastline and Golden West community
colleges in Orange County in 1977 and 1982. I tried to write a book of my
experiences and encountered a mental block when trying to describe weird
happenings at the VA mental ward in Brentwood.
Sounds like a compelling story, John. I would love to help you
Hi John, what a treasure your wife must have been to you, that you wish to honor her life in memoir. I hope that Pam Sheppard, whose email I gave you, will help you appropriately. She is a certified ghost writer, as per your needs. Warm Regards, PJC
I am having health problems at the present time. I have a great grand-daughter that may fulfill what I am endeavoring to do. Thank you for your recommendations.
John
There is no specific date of your upcoming March appearance at Groves Park in Irvine!