You Won't Fucking Believe This...

James

I've included this advice as part of a past post, but its value was recently reinforced.

My son has Asperger's and is in college, one of the best for what he wants to do with his life and I am very proud. However, he got into a little trouble with his grades and had to write a letter and plan for how he would get out of it.

He did a great job, but it was work.

The biggest writing challenge he faces is that when he has to create and write, his mind seizes up like a frozen computer. Sometimes it is so severe, that he needs a reboot. This can be a brief walk, getting out of the room and having a snack, or something like that.

However, this letter and plan had to be done in a a couple days. We couldn't take our time with it. So, he spoke what he wanted to say and I typed it. This helped, but he did frequently become stuck.

This is where I said, "Okay, clear your mind, take a deep breath then say, 'You won't fucking believe this, but...' and then just let loose with what comes next to your mind."

He did it and it worked, every time.

We all get stuck. This is what I do to get unstuck because it helps me reach past my conscious mind, the portion of my mind that is aware and usually the confused and blocked part, into the subconscious where things are clear and orderly.

In short, this is a way to harvest your blinks (a reference to Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink). These are the insights, memories, and deeper thoughts that your mind works over behind the curtain of the conscious mind.