ALWAYS ON
Saturday, May 7, 2022
While we think we are thinking of calling, meeting, or mindlessly triaging our calendar for the day – whether or not we listen to some habit-forming/mind-calming music in the background, something else is happening.
It always is. The one thing we are consciously thinking about or working on, then the other thing our mind flits to, then the next and the next …
But there is so much more going on between our ears, whether we are awake or sleeping, 24/365.
Our non-conscious mind is always busy, and some days I’m convinced mine is working overtime. One of my known symptoms is the inability to read for long periods – especially on things I must read, want to read, should read or desperately want to find time for re-reading.
I could self-diagnose this as ADHD not identified when I was a children, but there is more to it, and there is nothing wrong with when we experience this.
Because my mind wanders all over the mind-map of my life. As I reschedule or plan my follow-up calls or write notes to remind people we are both still alive – like a roll-call for our lives – I am like a one-man ball team, pitching and catching, hitting and fielding, at the same time. I write letters in my head while writing proposals on a page …
The non-conscious mind is essential – it keeps our heart beating and lungs breathing while we sleep, because it solves problems while we ‘sleep on them,’ and processes a million things while we are eating or walking or working out.
And then, when a solution is ready, it appears to me.