The thought of sitting down to write with a paper and pen has long been something I have imagined to be boring and fruitless. Yet the more I have been doing this. The more I have wanted to continue. I start writing with just a vague idea of what I want to process and before long I have filled a page and discovered things inside myself I never knew were there.
The act of writing is slow. It requires your time and attention. You need to know roughly where the sentence is going to go before you start to articulate it. This forces you to think and it triggers new ideas, new knowledge as you make fresh connections between different ideas and thought processes.
For example, in the piece I wrote prior to this about the tea stain. I had no idea about the “value” aspect I brought to that article. I never set out to write about that. Sure, I understood something could still be used even with cosmetic damage, but recognising the real ongoing value items can continue to deliver and wording it in such a clear way didn’t click till I started writing and thinking about my sentences.
Writing, especially physically without the benefit of editing on a word processor has long felt a “facing” or “boring”, and yet now I have started I am choosing it over watching YouTube clips or reading the news. YouTube is low effort, therefore much more attractive over say writing or reading. Yet the result is never as satisfying. Sitting watching 30+ mins of content allows me to pass time, but I don’t feel that sense of achievement vs writing a page or more my thoughts. “Create instead of consume” as a mantra makes so much more sense to me as I develop my writing and other hobbies.
Why then do we (and I still) so often grab the smartphone for mindless entertainment? Is it to avoid our own thoughts? Possibly yes. But the more I write, the more fascinated I am writing my thought process, and I am starting to like the way Lee thinks!
So when I am tempted to essentially disconnect from myself and find something to consume, perhaps I should write a page of my thoughts before picking the smartphone.
Woah! But wait. I said create not consume but I mentioned reading a book. That too is consuming? Right? Yet I think it is different. Watching and listening requires little effort. Reading requires you to process the words, sentences, form an understanding and use your imagination as you create your own version of the world and characters you are reading about. This requires you to think. Use your Brian. Use your experiences. This is a creative process. Same with non fiction/educational books. You are still putting in the effort and assimilating information.
Perhaps this too forces us to be too close to our own thoughts making it another less attractive option. Perhaps when something is “boring” it’s because the thing we are watching or doing has not allowed us to quiet our minds.
Should we seek to quiet it as much as we do? Or should we let it work through things? By being more introspective. The last few days, I have noticed I am sleeping better and more awake when I get up.
Purely anecdotal; I am aware!!
No AI was used to write this post. Just me, and my messy handwriting! 🙂
Photo by Prophsee Journals on Unsplash