"…the way of thinking he had worked out in his solitary life had been completely eclipsed by the petty concerns that now beset him… 

When he got home in the evening he would jot down in his notebook four or five essential calls to be made or appointments at fixed times. The mechanical management of his life, arranging his day so as to get everywhere on time, absorbed most of his vital energy.  He did nothing and thought nothing – had no time to think.  All he did was talk…

He was sometimes annoyed to find himself saying the same thing on the same day to different audiences.  But he kept himself so busy for days on end that he had no time to reflect that he wasn't actually doing anything."

Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

You'll forgive me if I am still mentioning War and Peace, given it's length and depth and breadth.  I will be plugging away for some time yet and, ironically, I started to come to the same conclusions mentioned above.  Talking can eclipse thinking, precluding clear, uninterrupted thought entirely. It can eat into the time we had for study or work or creative pursuits.  The solution seems obvious: less talking, more thinking. 

Chatter is at our fingertips, literally, today with social media.  Conversation itself is wonderful, but if we are to have anything worthwhile to say it needs to be supported by a counterweight of meditation.  This was getting away from me due to all the "mechanical management" life has required.  I am setting small goals daily in my own notebook for exercise, magnesium soaks, prayer, and reading. This brings back balance and finds me filled with meatier thoughts to share versus the meme mindset I was slipping into.  

Different ages and stages of life of course come with different challenges.  Clear thought and the reading of difficult books was not as feasible during the years of night nursing and endless loads of laundry. This chapter of life requires less of some tasks and more of others.  The physical workload eases as children grow (and sleep more) however the challenge of transitioning to parenting adults and aging (ourselves and those we love) call for more recollection.  It doesn't seem optional anymore.  We make time or we are quickly running on reserves, or worse. 

Wherever you are, I hope you are feeding that beautiful mind of yours.  While doing all the planning and organizing it is worth considering in which ways that "vital energy" of ours might be being depleted, even by delightful pastimes. We can keep ourselves so busy we don't recognize all that is not being done. 

Read

Think

Talk

….all done best in that order, I've decided.