On a train you can’t steer, so all that’s left is thinking. That’s why some people’s best ideas show up between stations.
STILLNESS
WHAT THIS MEANS
Motion you cannot control hands your attention back to you. Nothing on a train needs deciding, so the part of your head that solves things finally gets the floor. Stillness is not the opposite of progress; it is often where progress gets planned.
Pick one ride this week and leave your phone in your bag for it. The bus to practice counts, and so does the walk if nobody is driving you. Keep a note open afterwards for whatever surfaced, because the good ones fade fast.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Where do your best ideas arrive when you cannot do anything?
MORE IN SOLITUDE & SELF-KNOWLEDGE
- Crying in a parked car is one of the most normal things people do. You’re not falling apart. You’re letting some out.
- Look at what you doodle in the margins when you’re bored. Your hands draw what your head keeps circling.
- Ten minutes alone in the stockroom at work can be the best break of the shift. Quiet doesn’t need to be long.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.