Why you must embrace your hazy mindspace
On low imagination moments and a new type of lost weekend
Hi everyone,
Life is wild, eh? I’m saying that in my broadest Australian accent. It feels like that best conveys the tone I’m attempting: wry but also stupidly obvious.
A friend joked recently she would like to do a hard reset on January. I hard relate. It was a long, malfunctioning month.
Probably thankfully, hard resets on life are not possible, so this week I’m sharing thoughts on dreaming and doing in this moment that are not that. I’m not an expert, mind, just a willing explorer. As everyone’s therapist/yoga instructor knows to say: take what works and leave the rest!
LFG,
Lucy
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a. Dreaming
On navigating long stretches of hazy mindspace
NGL, I am low on vision lately. Where in the past I would experience a couple hazy days between long runs of (foolishly smug) 20/20 on where I wanted to go next, these days the ratio feels reversed. The mental space I use to imagine new things and possible futures is darker and foggier.
I’m told I’m not alone, which is good news. Togetherness in lostness is comforting, essential even. If you feel the way I’ve described and you haven’t talked to anyone else about it, I recommend taking the risk. You’ll probably find yourself talking to a person in a similar mental space.
But beyond that solace, how do you use your imagination when it is hiding from you in your shadows? The answer arising for me as I contemplate the several long periods of this vibe I’ve lived is:
Take note, and take notes. When feeling foggy, dark, and uncertain in your vision (by this I mean your imagination, your sense of possibility, your dreams, your schemes) simply notice what is there and write it down.
This will help you realize that you are somewhere even if it feels like you’re nowhere, that you are not out of ideas but rather that they’re emerging more slowly. Afterall, night is inevitable, and fog can be enchanting if you allow it.
b. Doing
What if you made your whole weekend pre-internet?
I’ve long flirted with the idea of a digital sabbath. I’ve never actually done it, but it feels healthy and approachable.
This week though, I thought about the more extreme idea of removing the internet from my life each weekend as a general rule. I almost certainly won’t take it on as a regular practice, but as a one-time experiment it’s pretty compelling.
Here’s what I’m considering the boundaries of the experiment:
No streaming media—regular broadcast TV, analog music = okay.
No phone except how you’d use a landline. Leave phone at home.
Weekend consists of Friday night through Monday morning.
Honestly, I got a little anxious typing out these constraints—which feels like a pretty good reason to try it. LMK if you do!
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