God is very intentional. Nothing about your life is random. Not the delays, not the detours, not even the waiting. He knows exactly what He's doing. Please learn to trust him more this year.
Somebody said โThe love you receive from someone who knows how to be alone is the most sincere there is.
A solitary soul loves you by choice, not out of a need for company.โ and thatโs so true.
What is your brain doing when you are doing absolutely nothing?
A neuroscientist wanted an answer to that question.
So she conducted the first brain-imaging study of brain activity when the brain is in a "resting state"โfree of inputs/free to wander.
The results are interesting...
The neuroscientist Dr. Nancy Andreasen used a positron emission tomography (PET) scan to study brain activity when the brain is at "wakeful rest"
When you are doing absolutely nothing:
"We found activations in multiple regions of the association cortex," Dr. Andreasen wrote. "We were not [seeing] a passive silent brain during the โresting state,โ but rather a brain that was actively connecting thoughts and experiences.โ
Essentially, Dr. Andreasen demonstrated that the brain defaults to creativity.
When you are doing absolutely nothing, the brain engages in what the researchers termed "random episodic silent thought" or REST.
And during REST, the brain "uses its most human & complex parts."
Takeaway 1: Doing nothing promotes creativity.
Raymond Chandler, Neil Gaiman, Dr. Suess, George Lucas, and many other writers all have/had a similar habit.
They gave themselves two options:
a) You donโt have to write.
b) You canโt do anything else.
@neilhimself explains:
"I go down to my lovely little gazebo at the bottom of the garden, sit down, and Iโm absolutely allowed not to do anything...I'm not allowed to do a crossword, read a book, phone a friend...all Iโm allowed to do is absolutely nothing, or write. But writing is actually more interesting than doing nothing after a while."
Takeaway 2: REST
Resting, Dr. Andreasen wrote, โallows the association cortices of the brain to converse in a free & uncensored manner.โ
This is why ideas come to us in the shower, on walks, and when daydreaming.
A favorite example of this: @Lin_Manuel had the idea for โHamiltonโ on vacation:
"I was on a pool float with a margarita in my hand and had a moment when my brain could unplug. [It was his first vacation in 7 years]. The moment my brain got a moment's rest, the best idea I've ever had in my life walked into it."
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โIf a plant only gets sunlight, itโs very harmful. It needs darkness tooโฆIn the darkness, it converts oxygen into carbon dioxide. We are like that too. We need periods of doing & periods of non-doing.โ โ Robert Pirsig
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As you get older, you realize that you're not always right and there are so many things you could've handled better, so many situations where you could've been kinder and all you can do is forgive yourself and let your mistakes make you a better person.
Your journey is yours alone. Some may choose to walk it with you but they canโt walk it for you. So appreciate your own company, love yourself and do what you have to do.