Shauna Moerke is…

Lately, I think I’m getting in the way of my own brain. It almost feels like it could get more accomplished without my interference. For example, last week I heard a song that I really liked. Unfortunately, by the time I went to go find it online, I had forgotten the lyrics. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t think of them and I found myself getting frustrated by the whole thing until I just gave up on it. Then last night, the song came to me in my dream. The lyrics that I had fought so hard to remember came through clearly. It surprised me enough that I woke up and wrote some of them down because I was afraid they would disappear again. Sure enough, a few hours later when I woke up they were gone again.

It’s funny how often stuff like that happens to me. I have a problem that I stress over, go to bed, and wake up with a solution. I get stuck on how to construct a blog post, go to bed, and wake up a couple hours later, rushing downstairs to type the whole thing out in minutes. It’s why, despite sleeping like a cat whenever able, I don’t hesitate to force myself to get up when inspiration strikes. It never fails that when I don’t, the idea has disappeared by the morning. It is clear to me now that my brain is smarter without me. When I’m awake my emotions, stress, and external distractions all just get in my brains way of functioning. Since I can’t completely separate myself from emotions and stress, nor would I want to honestly, I now know what I need to do when struggling with a problem. I need to take a nap. Maybe two. Now, I know I’m not alone in this, so what are you doing to get in the way of your own brain? More importantly, what do you need to do to stop it?

For those curious, here’s the song I couldn’t remember: