Silencing the voice in my head

A body in motion stays in motion.

~ Isaac Newton

It’s very quiet here. I finally have time to think.

Since our children left over the weekend, I have kept myself busy with cleaning, tidying, and organizing the house and yard. I’ve driven to Toronto to help clean and organize my mother’s home. I can't sit still.

It’s hard to slow down after having been so busy this summer. But could it be more than a body in motion staying in motion?

Compensatory control

Creating order around us compensates for the lack of order and control we feel inside. It's called compensatory control.

~ Ethan Kross

I was impressed by my organized thinking and functioning amid the chaos of full-time child care. I was able to tune out the noise to focus on the task at hand.

On my way home from Toronto, listening to a podcast, I heard a psychologist say that, contrary to what I believed, to silence mental chatter, many reflexively start organizing their workspace.

I believed a cluttered desk reflected a cluttered mind.

Humans crave control. We like to know that the world is orderly and predictable.

Apparently, creating order around us compensates for the lack of order and control we feel inside.

Something to think about.