I’ve been watching my brain lately… OK, wait… wait… hear me out. I haven’t completely lost it. I know you can’t literally watch a brain like how I watched—well, serial-inhaled—season 4 of Bridgerton, but honestly, I’m paying a heck of a lot more attention to my thoughts, and the way they feed into my reactions.
And I’m loving it more and more. Too often before, my brain felt like a noisy, messy roommate that I couldn’t escape while we both worked from home… at the same company… on the same project. Now, in Big Age (and with nothing perfect, obviously), my brain is more like an enemies-to-lovers rom-com. Our beef has lessened, we understand each other better, and we’re ready to hunker down and save this effed-up relationship.
My brain hoards an endless number of flourishing thoughts, wants, and wishes where aha moments come alive and are free to be tested. Then occasionally, it sets something on fire… for fun.
Shut Up, Speak Up, or Sit There… AKA: Sssh!
What I love most about the way I think now is this: I’m learning when to shut up, when to jump in, and the pinnacle: when to sit back and just observe… picture a spoiled family cat judging a room full of its human servants. I know, shady, right?
I’m refusing, more and more, to sidestep the so-called “rules of life” or bend for the things society says are “the things.” Day by day, I’m firmer in what I want, and even firmer in what I don’t want. And the sweetest part of it all? I don’t have to tell anyone—unless I feel like it. #UberDelicious
Not Every Thought Needs an Audience
“Energy is exceedingly expensive, so act accordingly.” — I.B. Kealy, reminding you (and me) to chill
Why it took me this long, I’ll never know, but there’s so much power in holding an answer and choosing not to hand it out. Sometimes, offering your viewpoint, thought-out solution—hell, I’ll say it, brilliance—can either be taken the wrong way or, worse, create extra work out of thin air for me. Like some evil magician who put their trick down, flipped it and reversed it—but again, on me. #MissyElliott
So instead, I assess the audience. The real ones will always get the real me. For the rest? I nod. I smile. I sip my tea or coffee. And kinda-sorta like Annie Wilkes did Paul Sheldon, I keep my thoughts contained. But with much, much less crazy-arse-violence.
Spring Shakes Things and I’m Listening
Spring has this delicious way of shaking me awake (January 1st could never!). It tosses me into situations and people that feel… aligned. Not AI clones reading from the same handed-down script, and not exact matches to me either. But people on the same wavelength. People who are also weeding out nonsense, and at the same time also tuning into what actually matters.
When you casually bump into conversations that reveal this like-minded spirit, it’s like finding out you’re all in a secret club—one filled with sunshine, no awkward initiation rituals, and clearly no jacked-up membership fees.
Petty, Messy, Brilliant… and All Mine
So yes. The way my brain thinks is still stubborn, more than a little messy, brutally honest with me, at least, but it’s also been given more space to be strategic, to rest, and to flip a switch when something ridiculously brilliant comes along. It protects me while fueling me to do better for myself without losing the plot. And all of this makes my Big Age life a little more fun, a heck of a lot sharper, and a lot more mine.
My brain and moi… we ride together!
