Do Not Under Estimate Your Unconscious Mind

Do Not Under Estimate Your Unconscious Mind

You may have heard of the myth of Sisyphus.  He was a king who was condemned to roll a boulder up a hill, but it would endlessly roll back down again.  The myth represents futility.  For us it is the recognition of repetitive and seemingly meaningless tasks.
I can guarantee that whatever craft you pursue there are elements of it that you find to be not very fulfilling or are even boring.   In polymer clay it is usually the sanding of the pieces one produces.   In Dolly making (talked about last month) it is preparing the wheat stems; in weaving it is setting up the weft; with cooking it might be the washing up!   When you have a satisfying job that earns you money there are always routine activities that take time and very little mental activity. 
There is a method whereby you can consciously utilise this time.   You may well do it already for your mind will wander when you are doing such tasks, although the thoughts are not focussed.    This is a time when you can actively choose to focus on a problem that you need to solve – usually those of a project that you are currently involved with.
The method is simple. One simply focuses, in full detail, on the problem that is concerning you.  It could be nothing more than a design fault in your project or it could be an emotional problem. 
Once you are clear about what will be your focus you undertake the necessary tasks.  You will find, if you maintain the focus, that so much will become clear and invariably you will come up with ideas.    I always have a paper and pen handy and jot down ideas and thought so that I don’t lose them.  What is happening is that whilst your conscious mind is working on the routine task your unconscious mind is working for you.  
Do not underestimate your unconscious mind.  If you are prone to not being able to get to sleep, or worse,waking in the night and not being able to return to sleep, invariably that wakefulness is due to one of those unsolved problems.  A possible solution (although it might not work for everyone) is having a pen and paper by your bed and writing any of further useful thoughts down,. This way you are emptying your mind whilst capturing the thoughts. Once captured you can consciously focus your mind on something that gives you pleasure that is nothing to do with the offending thoughts in order to sleep.   This because we can choose, at any time, to change what we think about. It is an incredibly valuable skill!