Have you ever put so much information in the ol' noodle that it feels like it's starting to leak out? Or, worse yet, it feels like everything's building up toward critical mass and you're hoping that the worst that comes of it is insanity. Well, I'm getting there—quickly.
You see, I have a habit of sometimes taking on more than I can really handle when it comes to reading and invariably I end up on the short end of burnout. (Does anyone else smell smoke?) I love to read and I can't get enough usually but what sometimes happens is that I'll be reading a book and another book catches my attention. I'll pull it off the shelf and begin to "browse" through it. I'll get interested and begin to read it. Then things start getting bad.
I'll also be reading a book or web sites at work (Yes, work related) when things are slower.
I get home and find that it's time for my quiet time so I begin to read God's word. And so on and so forth it goes. I have been known to be juggling five books at one time! Sometimes I even mix them up in my head as to what's happening in each book. Maddening!
Soon there comes a point when there's just too much going on in my noodle which, by that time has actually become a wet noodle, and I lose my way, in a manner of speaking. It feels like I can't possibly fit one more item in my head. I start to become imbalanced and, a sure sign of trouble ahead, I begin to have trouble making decisions. You know there's a problem when deciding what to have for breakfast causes a minor panic attack. Time to back off.
How does one clear out the...excess...OK! Bloated extras in one's mind? One thing that has worked for me in the past has been to take a night or two and watch television. You may be thinking, "TV?? That is a mind killer!" YOU GOT IT! Sometimes just letting the TV go helps me clean out my mind. You have to be very careful though, because it can sneak up on you and pretty soon you've killed more than you thought and then you have to fight to be free of the new TV addiction you've found yourself in but, taken in bite-sized chunks, TV can help bleed off some of the excess overages in your brain.
One other thing I've found that can help and can be somewhat therapeutic, is writing. I have come to a point where TV just does not call to me as it once did, its siren song drawing me to the murky depths of oblivion all the while images stimulate my brain to mush. So writing is a wonderful alternative.
But what to write?
It is true that there are times when your mind is so much slurry that you can't even form a coherent thought let alone...write. That is the beauty of writing. Just because you write it does not mean someone else has to read it.
During these times of mental constriction, take the writing medium of choice and simply start to put words on to the paper. They do not have to be correctly spelled, punctuation is optional, and during this time the words do not have to make sense-Just write whatever pops into your mind next. Here's a sample:
Horses love green grasshoppers women from yonder cats calling and birds hammering Grant to grace and falling short behind a barn on a forested hill top looking over orange tigers on a cool night in July with no place like home to kill a mower in the process of digging up ants in the backyard.
Fun, isn't it? This is also a wonderful technique for blowing out writer's block. It helps your mind gain some creative momentum, but beware! It will drive your inner editor absolutely COOWAZY! (That is a really fun thing to do!)
So two options to drain excess brain goo: 1) A little bit of TV; 2) Writing. I do enjoy a good movie now and then but I get much more joy from putting words to paper. And the risk of permanent brain damage is little to none when you write.
So long All!
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