A Trusted System

I did not go looking for a notation system that worked for me. Instead my dash/plus system was simply an extension of something I was already doing. For as long as I can remember, I had been in taking notes in a outline-like style, with a dash proceeding each point. Therefore, since I was already in the habit of doing this, extending the functionality of that dash seemed the most simple and natural thing for me.

Also, for as long as I can remember, I have been making lists of what I needed to do on paper and placing it to the right of my workspace. I remember doing this as early as using such a list to enumerate my homework for the evening in high school (perhaps the preceding dash started here too). Eventually, I moved to doing this at work and for my tasks at home. Thus, my today card was born.

My point being that we are often quick to look outside ourselves for the answer to finding a trusted system that keeps us on track and drives our day. And, while one can certainly adopt ideas and make them one’s own, I would argue that the first, easiest, and most trusted of places to look might be an extension of something we already do. Something that can evolve and grow as we do.

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Running In Place

I’ve been struggling lately. It’s not a depression per se. I know what that is. I’m not sure what this is. A low level malaise, perhaps. But not quite.

It basically is this, no matter how much I get done over the course of a day, no matter how productive I am, I still feel like I’ve gotten nothing done, am way behind, am dropping balls, and have no hope of catching up. And, like all such dark visitors, it has the effective self-fulfilling results of actually getting nothing done that I want to get done (despite my getting plenty done otherwise).

I write a lot but not what I wish I was writing. I check tasks off the list but not what I feel I should be checking. I get to the end of the day, look around, and can actually see my accomplishments, but all I can focus on is that which I did not.

I’ve taken to logging all of the things I do into Day One. I already am capturing and logging much of my online work and travels as well, thanks to Slogger. My hope was that it would provide an even better picture of what I’m up to. A lens of credibility and truth that would fight back and prove my feelings a lie.

Thus far, it’s not working. And I don’t have a Plan B.

Ruminating

While we largely think of the word ruminating as the art of thinking deeply about something, it has it’s origins in the act of digestion. Specifically in ruminant animals like the cow.

From Wikipedia:

A ruminant is a mammal that digests plant-based food by initially softening it within the animal’s first compartment of the stomach, principally through bacterial actions, then regurgitating the semi-digested mass, now known as cud, and chewing it again. The process of rechewing the cud to further break down plant matter and stimulate digestion is called “ruminating”.

Therefore, it should be no surprise that another common phrase used for thinking deeply about something is “chewing the cud”.

So, to recap, ruminating is the processing of nutrition that has already been processed once and needs to be further processed to be fully digested.

Now that we know the origin, and the process, of the meaning as it relates to food digestion, I’d like to take this opportunity to suggest we better apply this action to the digestion of information.

The thing is, that we are bombarded by so much new information that we simply “swallow” it and move on. Perhaps we think about it in the moment and think we have absorbed something of value. But, like a ruminant beast, such processing can not have the same deep nutritional value as ruminating on those same things. In other words, learning something, letting it settle in, then spending further time processing it again at a much deeper level.

So, instead of exposing yourself to the constant stream of new information and knowledge this age affords us, consider spending some time “chewing the cud” of knowledge you already have. Spend some time ruminating on it — breaking it down — and by doing so make it more digestible and, therefore, nutritional.

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