Scrambled brains

Is there productivity in a messy mind of thoughts?

I keep seeing articles about the science behind, the benefits of and the complete folly of multi-tasking. I have a well-respected colleague who believes multi-tasking just flat isn’t possible. And he’s a brain scientist, so I don’t argue with him.

All these musings on my ability to multi-task have me thinking instead about how to harness the energy of a mind in creative hyper speed, of which I am intimately acquainted.

Do you ever experience nearly overwhelming mind jumble? When so many possibilities, dreams, imaginings, emotions, goals, objectives, projects, concerns, tasks, responsibilities, projections, hopes and desires bash through your gray matter at the speed of thought, colliding endlessly and carving new paths your ever-so-malleable mind wants to follow now…and now…and now! It sort of feels like a laser light show going on in your head.

Well, um, I do. ☺

Given this state of affairs, I first try to sort, categorize, sort, file, sort, do. But those little buggers of brain activity will not be corralled.

So I attempt a lockdown, but without fail these whirling dervishes of biochemical energy wiggled out from under my thought clamp and dashed off.

Hmmm…

Most times, I settle on the only thing that appears to be mildly effective: surrender.

I often end up arriving at surrender in this hectic life. And instead of the unfurling of this white flag being defeating or discouraging or a downer, it’s usually empowering, thrilling, fruitful, if not a bit exhausting.

If I must have a point, I guess it is this: we cannot truly and totally master the mind. And, maybe we shouldn’t try to.

The laser light show between my ears quickens my pulse, polishes my brain and — with most impact—renews a thirst in my soul, to taste more life, not to settle on what I know, to push past comfort, to do more, to see more, to feel more, to try more, to press harder, and to rip open the tied-up-tight concepts once neatly packaged for long term storage.

So that’s what I’m doing.