#i have to have words for the sand and the rocks and leon's flip flops and connor wearing socks and slides which leon hassles him for

[notthequiettype]

i've been trying for many years to get into meditation bc i have need-to-calm-the-fuck-down disease and sitting still and breathing thoughtfully while trying to dismiss thoughts i'm not having on purpose feels like the exact kind of torture that could Fix Me if only i could do it right

so this year i was like, i am going to meditate for five minutes a day every day bc trying to do it three times a week or whatever just meant that i was never doing it (it's easier to build a daily habit than any other kind! i have lived and learned! just do it every day!) and so i use the balance app which is fine but they're always wanting me to scan my body and i don't want to! i am in pain often! in ways that are not relievable! i do not need to be MORE aware of it! so i got one real good one once where my friend ofosu made me imagine a garden and like, build it and it was the first time i ever finished meditating and was like, oh shit i feel better??? but short visualization activities with the right ratio of leave-me-alone to guidance are impossible to find??? so i just started doing an unguided meditation and building my own garden or whatever and for me, this is doing exactly what i want meditation to do, it steadies my pulse, it makes me slow down, it takes me away from all the worries and thoughts that are in my mind normally bc i am actively thinking about something else, and it's lovely

but like two weeks ago, instead of a garden i got a Blorbo Image and i was like... huh... meditative blorbo thoughts... i can work with this, so every day i spend five minutes thinking about my special little paper dolls and i come out of it with all the benefits previously experienced doing visualization and i am here to recommend it to you!!

sit down in a quiet space and set a timer for five minutes, close your eyes, take a deep breath and Imagine Your Guys!! put them on a beach, put them in an airport lounge, put them in your favorite restaurant and invent a reason for them to be there, put them in the backyard of your dream home and throw a party

the secret i think is the timing and also that you need to be building an IMAGE, when i get distracted and like, think too much dialogue i find that i do not feel as ~clear afterward, it's fine that they talk (and ymmv in all of this ofc) but i have to break it up with more scenery and detail than i would when i am writing which is good for my brain AND my writing which has been fun

ANYWAY, tips from someone with an overactive brain to you, it is very important when times are as hard as they are for many of us atm to let yourself breathe and actively think about anything else so i hope you do that in whatever way works for you