Mental Gymnastics?


Some people jog, others work out, some may simply tune in to the news at the same time each day. Though habits can sometimes hinder us, they also have a way of keeping us focused. There are, without a doubt, stranger ways of keeping in (cognitive) shape, but writing is perhaps one of the best. A web site, and the awareness that a web site is waiting for us to update it, to add to it, keeps us on our toes. It's almost impossible to stop the continual flow of thoughts (who would want to) but much more difficult to make sense out of that flow, to sift out what's worth additional thought, to polish those thoughts that haven't yet achieved the desirable shine. Over the years, knowing that soon I'm going to have to make a semblance of sense out of the free-flowing thoughts that engulf me, that I'm going to have to write something that I won't be fully embarrassed to post on a site, has kept me from becoming completely inundated by information overload, from floating off, untethered, into info-space.

Some people may work on their web sites with the express purpose of being able to say something to the world. Some may do so because their minds are at work while doing menial jobs. My guess is that most of us do it simply to make sense to ourselves, to sort things out in our own heads. Being read by others may be an additional perk. It may even be the desired by-product. But first and foremost, for those who keep at it, it's a form of mental exercise that keeps us in shape.



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