Where has our thinking time gone?

Years ago, my late husband played Ludie in The Trip to Bountiful. Early in the play, his mother is sitting quietly, looking out the window. He asks what she's doing. I remember her answer as, “I'm just thinking my thoughts.”

That line has stayed with me.

I found myself thinking about it recently.

When did we stop just thinking our thoughts?

In my previous career, when I needed thinking time, I would go for a long walk along a familiar route.  My feet carried me safely, allowing my mind to quietly process the options, run through pro’s and con’s, and all the what if’s.  My eyes took in the beauty of the rural neighborhood, I’d notice the flowers blooming in gardens, smell the fresh air, and listen to the cacophony of birdsong all around me.  While my brain processed.  Today, many of us – me included - resort to technology to search for an answer, and trust what technology feeds me is accurate.  I do check sources, or at least glance at them, to make me feel better about the data being spoon-fed to me.

One of the things I’ve noticed in launching RSR Brown Consulting is how much more thinking I am actually doing. My methods are old school – observe, experience, ask questions, document on paper, and think about the ramifications of existing processes and how changing things could affect not only a specific process or step, but everywhere else the changes could affect outcomes.  But, that is how my brain works.  Except for the writing it down on paper part.  I mentally step into the situation and experience it.

Thinking does take longer. But I don’t think it is wasted time.  As I compose this blog without the help of AI, I am slowing down and thinking about my past experiences, about interactions with others, and about how I solve problems.  I think about my curiosity and how I follow it to learn why anything is the way it is, and what can be done to make a thing better. As I personally string words together to communicate a topic with you, I am realizing my writing isn’t as polished as it used to be, and it is certainly more difficult.  Getting into my own brain has made me realize I miss it.  I miss musing, pondering, thinking. 

Am I alone here? Anyone else miss their thinking time?