Arnav Kheni, 1/15 Week 9- My Overthinking Mind
I am sure none of you in the history of the world have ever been told this before, but the mind is a powerful thing. But, what I want to focus on today is the power it has to work against us, due to the events of Tuesday. I was supposed to have finished this blog hours ago during FLEX, but sadly I did not...although not because of procrastination (this time). Here I was in FLEX, ready to complete my blog and be done with it. I opened up Docs and set up MLA formatting. And then came the time to think of what I wanted to write about. I thought of a title…my mind rejected it instantly. I thought of another title and that too got rejected. Then I thou-nope…garbage…I was ashamed to have even formed the semblance of such a cliche, boring topic in my mind. This went on and on, and I ultimately put it off again and again until now, late at night.
Originally, I was planning on talking about time. But after this dilemma, I knew exactly what to write about. Our minds can be our greatest critics. In my case, it interferes time-to-time in assignments like these, ones that require communicating to other people. Part of my mind gets nervous that I might have said something stupid, and constantly makes me delete and revise what I type. So ironically enough, our minds hold power over our minds. Sadly, I have no way of giving a solution to this problem, as it is almost impossible to give one solution that works for everyone. But for everyone who overthinks critically like me, take my folly as a lighthearted experience that could make you feel better about yourselves. Remember, the first step to fighting overthinking is acknowledging that you overthink. Perhaps also take this experience as a warning as to what to avoid.
Hi Arnav, I love the topic of your blog! It is something I don’t really think about but subconsciously do, and it was amazing to see my thoughts and my mind come to life through your writing! I totally agree with the fact that your mind controls your mind, and it is nice to see somebody who relates to my extreme overthinking. Overthinking is definitely something that has taken over my life in some aspects, whether it be reliving embarrassing moments or to making really big decisions, to see somebody go through something I am is really refreshing to see. I also love the way that you've gone about it by connecting it to an APENG assignment that many people might overthink, such as myself. How you explain the process of your overthinking, starting with the title, is very insightful and it definitely shows how it feels to be in the mind of an overthinker, and I really appreciate how you bring awareness to this matter. I also like how you give advice at the end, given your perspective as a fellow over-thinker; it was refreshing to see that the first step to stop overthinking is to acknowledge that you overthink. Thank you, and good job!
ReplyDeleteHey Arnav, I completely agree with you! Sometimes, our own mind can be the biggest hindrance to whatever we want to accomplish. There are times I work on at-home essays or creative writing and have a mental block that just doesn’t go away, no matter how hard I try. Sometimes the mental block lasts weeks and I am unable to be productive throughout the duration of it. Ever since I was young, my parents have taught me that positive affirmation truly does make a difference. Over time, I have realized how true this is. When we constantly overthink and criticize ourselves, we start to believe those criticisms to be true. If this is the case, then the same should be true for positive affirmations! Good job on this blog!
ReplyDeleteHey Arnav, this was definitely the blog I have been able to relate to the most so far. So many times, my mind's desire for perfection overrides my desire to get stuff done. So many times this year during RA timed writes, I've just had no idea where to start, my mind shooting down any non-flawless ideas as if it was a German soldier on the beaches of Normandy plucking out as many paratrooping airplanes as it could. After enough time and distress, just like on D-Day, enough planes and the pressure of the time crunch forcibly crush my mind's perfectionist defenses and lead to me starting my essay. However, the time lost because of my mind's criticism of my ideas leads to an overall worse essay for myself.....
ReplyDeleteHi Arnav! This is one of the most relatable blogs I've come across. A lot of the times when I'm doing assignments, particularly in English, the hardest part is getting started just because I can't think of a good starting point to build upon. Just like you, I shoot down every idea I have because I subconciously strive for perfection, despite knowing that my first draft is never going to be ideal. This results in assignments getting procrastinated until the last possible minute since I just can't get myself to write the first sentence or paragraph, but once I get started, continuing to write it feels much easier. I'm glad that this is a universal experience and not just something that I struggle with. What works best for me is to just lower my mental standards and get started, even if the first draft sounds bad in my head and is far from perfect. Thanks for sharing!
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