Embracing Mind Wandering

I am rooted in purpose and productivity. My actions are usually well calculated and thoughtful with regards to time, energy and resources. Tetris is a game that has always made perfect sense to me and offered significant satisfaction. I often craft my day like a game of Tetris with tasks and responsibilities organized in a way where everything fits!

So how did I become a daydreamer rooted in purpose and productivity? Although it wouldn’t seem like these things flow together, I have increasingly experienced the value in what is considered mind wandering or day dreaming.

Mind wandering is the experience of letting your mind float. Sitting without distractions and seeing where your mind takes you. We often think of time spent like this as a waste of time, but in fact in is an extremely precious form of thinking. Einstein is even is said to have come up with his theory of relativity while daydreaming!

I am definitely not Einstein, but I have experienced my own clarity, creativity and Ah-Ha! moments in mind wandering states of being to the extent that I am now a firm believer in the values and benefits from the action of creating space to dream. Right now I am sitting at a coffee shop staring at a range of snowcapped peaks that I access in my backyard nearly daily, and I smile from head to toe because I was willing to daydream and turn that seed of an idea into my reality. (See “Rusty” journal entry for more details.)

As children we are often told to dream and imagine anything being possible. We encourage kids to try all kinds of things and expose them to a wide variety of experiences so that they can plant seeds for who and what they might like to be and do when they grow in years. So why do we thwart that encouragement as we get older? Why do we discourage adults from mind wandering and leaning into dreams? Maybe because mind-wandering is often viewed as a mark of not being productive, lacking control and even even laziness. Additionally, I think dreaming for adults is discouraged under the weight of responsibility.

Responsibility is real and I’m not suggesting to quit your job and become a full-time dreamer, but what could your life look like if you carved out a few minutes, maybe even an hour a day letting your mind wander? What is there to lose? Is there something to gain? I would argue that you need not answer and rather be curious to explore what might lie inside your own mind wandering experience.

As Johann Hari says in his book, Stolen Focus, “It’s often when mind wondering that we have our best ideas, our most creative thinking.”

So, will you listen to the call of curiosity and try spending 15 minutes to an hour without your phone, outdoors if possible, with no purpose or intention outside of giving your mind complete freedom to wander?

I would love to hear about your mind- wandering experience. The world might really benefit from you carving out 15 minutes to dream forward, But at the very least you have spent a few minutes investing in your own creativity. Certainly nobody is upset with Einstein for dreaming! So, here is your permission to go forth and day dream!