Decluttered Mind

My perfect space for reading and writing is mental not physical. I need to get rid of the ‘open tabs’ in my head and to unsubscribe from both websites and from areas of everyday life. The latter idea came from last night’s Calm app. As human beings we are not designed for modern life. Evolution has not equipped us for constant screen use and our instincts that we had as a species for danger have been hijacked by otherwise unimportant aspects of the Internet. If we get into arguments online, or if a friend posts something that unsettles us, or if we read an article that really annoys us we go into fight or flight mode far too easily. Our brain is prehistoric and was designed purely to deal with survival. A post on social media that annoys you is not life or death but we can treat it as such on an unconscious level. When Darwin figured out Evolution of the Species he only did so from a physical standpoint. In his time, life was moving far more quickly than ever before and since then it has accelerated, particularly in the past 20 years, and we are woefully unequipped to deal with it as we are the only animal species that has to navigate technology not just in our lives but dictating our lives.

So, what does my reading and writing space look like? It is a time of the day when I am on my own and won’t be disturbed. It is a space both mental and physical that will require me to leave my phone out of reach and try to stop thinking about it. It is a very relaxed time when I reconnect with the enjoyment of the printed word and the joy of creating a piece of work that is enjoyable to write and, hopefully, enjoyable to read. It is, and always will be, a work in progress.