I'll Think of a Title For This Later

In the last post, I talked about changing your scenery to help clear your mind. How did that go? Did you change your scenery? Did it clear your mind? Did you sit in a different seat at church? Did you change something in your routine? I want to hear from you! Let me know how you did something different, changed your view, and how that worked for you.

Or didn't work for you. I was thinking about the last post and sometimes, changing the scenery just isn't enough to clear your head and get those creative juices flowing. Today I did something I haven't done since I was in high school: I went for a jog. If you know me at all, you know this is completely out of character for me. I've basically accepted that when the zombie apocalypse happens, I'll be the person you should hang out with because they'll catch me before they catch you. But I went for a jog, trying to clear my head. I ran from the front of my house, around the corner, and to the first driveway I came to before my lungs said "AIR!" and my calf said "WHY DIDN'T YOU STRETCH FIRST?!" There are times when we change our scenery and our brains still stay clogged. We don't feel inspired. We still feel weighed down by what we're reading in the news (Cosby, Kavanaugh...my spirit hurts). The change of scenery didn't work and a part of you wonders, "Have I been cheated? Did I do it wrong? Did I pick the wrong scenery?"
         
It's so easy to overthink things, isn't it?

When I start to overthink things and the change of scenery doesn't help, I'm going to attempt a new strategy: avoidance. I know that sounds wrong. I know that sounds horrible and we've been taught to be like the ant, never putting off until tomorrow what we can do today. But then again, maybe there's some holiness in walking away. Maybe there's some good self-care (dare I say sabbath?) in walking away and coming back another time to give whatever you were trying to do another go.

I read an article the other day in a magazine called "Flow." The article was called "Let's Put it Off For One More Day"* and it was about how procrastination can actually help us get things done. The sentence that really got my attention was this: "Procrastination has a lot in common with mindfulness." I had to let that one sink in, because I have pretty clear ideas about what I think mindfulness is. Mindfulness is meditation. It's slowing down and actually paying attention to what you're doing. In my mind, mindfulness is not putting off for today what you can do tomorrow. But the article suggests that can be a part of it. "Everything doesn't need to be solved immediately: look at it first, let your feelings sink in and experience the problem without immediately thinking of solutions. It might feel like dawdling, but sometimes there is nothing wrong with that and the problem solves itself."**

Procrastination and mindfulness. Usually, I match procrastination with guilt. But the Dutch author and zen master Paul Loomans believes that it can be a good thing to do something else and come back to the original issue later.

So maybe changing your scenery didn't help you clear your mind. Or maybe it did, just not in the way that led you to do the thing you were trying to clear your mind to do. I went for a jog and it didn't really help, except that I went for a jog and as much as my lungs kind of hate me right now, I feel like they'll actually thank me later when they realize it was for their own good (probably. maybe.). So maybe what you need isn't a change of scenery, but a change of activity. A break. A step away from whatever it is you're trying to get done.

Obviously this practice won't work in every circumstance. You can't always tell your boss or your teacher, "No, I'm not going to think about this issue right now." Part of the practice, I believe, is learning when to use it and when not to use it. What issue do you face right now that the change of scenery just isn't enough? What could you go do instead? Do you think you can step away from it today and come back to it tomorrow?

At any rate, I'm stepping away from the blogger for the day. :)

*Let's Put It Off For One More Day. (2018, Summer). Flow: A Magazine that Takes its Time.
**See previous footnote for citation. Page 130.

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