This post is in response to: Daily Prompt: Simply the Best | http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/daily-prompt-best/
Where do you do your best thinking?
My mind is one of those that always seems to be going non-stop, even when I’m trying to get to sleep (sometimes especially then). To make it all make sense takes special focus. It takes actual pen and paper to chart out those processes, expand them, tie them together, and condense them in an organized, easy to tend manner. While thoughts on everything from finances to short story ideas come in a mudslide, my key to gaining this coveted organization is sensory deprivation – or as close as I can get to achieving that.
This state of thought can rarely be achieved at home. With seven or more people in the house at any given time, there is rarely any quiet, much less a time of few to no distractions. Our back yard provides a very temporary haven to sort things out as we have a large fire pit set far enough back that household cacophony does not reach. It does seem though that every time I retreat to the fire pit for some brain-time, soon someone realizes I am back there and comes to hang out, the rest following shortly after they’ve realized the first is missing.
Alternately, beautiful shorelines are all around me. Be it a small lake, a creek, river, or beachside, there is always somewhere I can go if I have the gas to get there. The area around the library is one of my favourite places to sit and sort. If one view becomes monotonous, another is only a couple minutes’ walk away. People don’t bother you much out there, aside from the expected nod, smile and “good morning!” as they pass you walking. Being surrounded by natural scenes allows my mind to pause, take in the simplest of sounds, sights and smells, and stop long enough to think on paper, one topic at a time. Nature gives me the space I need for my body and soul to just breathe and just that in itself helps everything fall into order. Oddly, the darker, rainier, stormier it is, the more creative the thoughts become. Until of course every hair on my body starts to tingle, then my only thought is “Lightning – Shelter!” *winks*
The only time it becomes impossible to think straight is when I am under extreme stress, and I have had my share of that. When depression starts to creep in over the things causing stress, there is no place or situation that seems to help me think. In fact, thinking when I am feeling depressed is something I try to avoid because it tends to begin a downward spiral which only ends badly unless by some miracle something happens to pull me out of it. Likewise, I try like hell to avoid making decisions or plans under pressure. Those are the ones we tend to regret the most.
So nature, every bit my thinking box, especially when the calming energy of water surrounds me. Your turn – Where do YOU do your best thinking?
Lifeinpawprints's Weblog 
Daily Prompt: Simply The Best
Jan 6
Posted by lifeinpawprints
This post is in response to: Daily Prompt: Simply the Best | http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/daily-prompt-best/
Where do you do your best thinking?
My mind is one of those that always seems to be going non-stop, even when I’m trying to get to sleep (sometimes especially then). To make it all make sense takes special focus. It takes actual pen and paper to chart out those processes, expand them, tie them together, and condense them in an organized, easy to tend manner. While thoughts on everything from finances to short story ideas come in a mudslide, my key to gaining this coveted organization is sensory deprivation – or as close as I can get to achieving that.
This state of thought can rarely be achieved at home. With seven or more people in the house at any given time, there is rarely any quiet, much less a time of few to no distractions. Our back yard provides a very temporary haven to sort things out as we have a large fire pit set far enough back that household cacophony does not reach. It does seem though that every time I retreat to the fire pit for some brain-time, soon someone realizes I am back there and comes to hang out, the rest following shortly after they’ve realized the first is missing.
Alternately, beautiful shorelines are all around me. Be it a small lake, a creek, river, or beachside, there is always somewhere I can go if I have the gas to get there. The area around the library is one of my favourite places to sit and sort. If one view becomes monotonous, another is only a couple minutes’ walk away. People don’t bother you much out there, aside from the expected nod, smile and “good morning!” as they pass you walking. Being surrounded by natural scenes allows my mind to pause, take in the simplest of sounds, sights and smells, and stop long enough to think on paper, one topic at a time. Nature gives me the space I need for my body and soul to just breathe and just that in itself helps everything fall into order. Oddly, the darker, rainier, stormier it is, the more creative the thoughts become. Until of course every hair on my body starts to tingle, then my only thought is “Lightning – Shelter!” *winks*
The only time it becomes impossible to think straight is when I am under extreme stress, and I have had my share of that. When depression starts to creep in over the things causing stress, there is no place or situation that seems to help me think. In fact, thinking when I am feeling depressed is something I try to avoid because it tends to begin a downward spiral which only ends badly unless by some miracle something happens to pull me out of it. Likewise, I try like hell to avoid making decisions or plans under pressure. Those are the ones we tend to regret the most.
So nature, every bit my thinking box, especially when the calming energy of water surrounds me. Your turn – Where do YOU do your best thinking?
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