It’s been a long day at work. Or your kid won’t stop fake-crying and you’re about to real-cry in a fluffy towel at Target. Or you forgot that appointment. Or you heard that voicemail. Sometimes you need to shut down your brain.
It’s not cold and heartless. It’s self-care. At some point your patience and empathy run out and you need to recharge. A nap. A snack. Perhaps a book with a cover you hide. Maybe a TV show you won’t confess to watching. You may feel guilty for spending me time. But time after time, your mindless activity, this mental bliss gets you through the tough moment so you can engage again.
Why do we feel ashamed of certain renewal choices? Why does it matter if we watch true crime programs (hooked), or read pulp fiction novels (guilty), or eat fancy chocolate (more, please)? I love a good mix of high brow and low brow culture. The Book of Mormon. The Big Lebowski. A profile of Britney Spears through the lens of her hairstyles. Deal me in.
Especially if it means it stops my brain from spinning and worrying over things that don’t really matter, if it puts things into proper perspective. If you’re managing the important stuff in your life, why aren’t you putting some coping butter on those stressed veggies? We’re human and occasionally we need a good thrill, a good cry, a good laugh.
What’s your mindless activity? Are you a Fixer Upper fan? Do you have a favorite tabloid? Do you have a secret stash of treats? Will the JonBenet cold case ever be solved? Tell me about it.
Adventures in Low Vision 
My favorite mindless activity is link following on the internet. I do it when I am not looking for anything in particular and I let the links take me wherever they will. Sometimes I find something very silly and other times the things I find are quite disturbing! I just click another link and I’m off again to something else. I have learned many interesting things about subjects that I wouldn’t normally be interested in. There is no pressure on me and as I mindlessly click links my mind is not focused on problems that keep me worried it’s just cruising. It’s relaxing because I don’t have anything that I need to look at or stay focused on. It like briefly visiting new worlds. If I don’t like it, I am on to the next one.
Links to discovery, Casee!
You had me at “coping butter”. This post made me smile and nod – many times. Thanks Susan!
Jenelle
Thanks, Jenelle. Hope you’re doing well.
Oh yes! My fixes are, in no particular order, Cadbur’s Dairt Milk chocolate from the fridge, Agatha Raisin mystery on tv and a long Liane Moriarty novel read by Caroline Lee on audio. These indulgences may change according to mood and the season of the year!
Love a Cadbury Dairy Milk bar and I will look up those books, too. Good to hear from you, Bridge.
Right now my mindless activity is Netflix but this is subject to change depending on the day. This is such an important and timely message especially with our attention being redirected on a continual basis.
Any Netflix recs? Thanks for stopping by, Steph.
Netflix is the only way I can catch up on, or begin watching old/new series. It’s how I got hooked on Walking Dead and Supernatural.
I like books that take place in a different time and different place, ie, post WW II Germany, or India when it was still a British colony. Traveling without any hassles!
Hassle-free travel sounds great to me!
I’m always up for an English who-done-it and sometimes a cozy mystery where it was the sweet old lady in the church basement with an arsenic cobbler.
Photography was once my passion, and I am starting to unwind by seeing how I might get back there. I want a camera that involves feel, like a post war Zeiss I once owned.
And dark chocolate!
Watch out for those church ladies. And it sounds like you will find a way to do more photography in the future. Keep at it.