Nervousness

Nervousness presents itself as a sense of urgency. At this time the world feels nervous. Everyone is in a hurry and everything is urgent.  It’s all hurry up, even if it winds up as hurry up and wait.

Advertisements rush us. We are told that whatever we do, we have to do it right away. No chance to think things over. No time to enjoy making choices.

Whatever it is that we are pushed into buying, or wish to buy, we are told that it will soon cease to be available. Or else the price will rise. Or we are urged to hurry into buying things as significant as a new car or a new home so as not to waste “a whole day.” We can buy or sell our cars in an instant at a place called “carvana,” suggestive of a nirvana-like caravan. It is all urgent, efficient, joyless and tense. No human interaction required.

No wonder we are feeling increasingly isolated, frenetic, and nervous.

Read more from Irina Gajjar at www.irinaspage.com

 

 

Philosophical Worries 

Some of us take our beliefs, feelings or doubts about matters like life, death, and the existence of a supreme being more deeply to heart than others.

Some of us worry about small and big things that may or may not be within our power to control while others are more carefree.

Some of us fret over the future of our planet, our people, our nations, our politics, and our faith while others just do our best with without much preoccupation.

It is hard to say that one attitude is better than another. If our concerns make us do better or become better, that is good. But if we believe that we cannot assume responsibility for things we are unable to change and remain more laid back about the fate of humanity, that is fine too.  Either way, as long as we strive to be as kind and effective as we can and as long as we can be happy and have fun, we will be fine.

Read more from Irina Gajjar at www.irinaspage.com.

Fried Brains

fried brains

Fried brains is a condition that plagues writers, students and anyone who depends on inspiration to produce work. When I could not think of a good subject for this blog, I realized my brains were fried. Then it occurred to me that talking about fried brains was as good an idea as any.

So, I Googled fried brains and read tips on how to deal with them. For example: distract yourself, meditate or relax. I recalled watching something on TV illustrating how distraction worked to relieve anxiety in military operations. The program showed parachute jumpers dropping into a war zone as they challenged one another with quotations. One jumper would recite a quote like “There is nothing to fear but fear itself,” and the next identified the quote’s source as Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)’s First Inaugural Address. Before ejecting, the airman quoted something else and so on.

I agree with these remedies, but note that fried brains are a recurrent state of mind induced by stress, boredom, discomfort, anxiety and/or pressure to perform. Unlike frozen brains which are briefly numbed and do nothing, fried brains produce excessive awareness of discomforting details in our environment. This awareness further heats our mind creating a vicious circle.

If you cannot bring yourself to do what you feel needs to be done, your brains are fried. Either understand and deal with what has fried them or wait until they cool down. By all means do use a pleasant distraction that requires concentration but beware of getting hooked by the distraction.

Good Luck!