thinking time

Interesting article in the Age by John Watson - about wsidom, thought, unconscious musing and quiet time. One that resonates with me, fan as I am of the quiet mosey about the house, and aimless uninterrupted day dreaming. I find it reallly important to my peace of mind, and I absolutely find that my 'best' (most innovative, most elegantly problem solving, most useful) ideas come unbidden, just arriving like an unexpected but welcome strange insect with glittering wings, fully formed and completely inexplicable. They come when I am doodling, or sweeping the leaves in the backyard, or quietly doing the dishhes, or looking out the window on the bus. They come when I am alone, when I am sleeping, when I am walking. They don't arrive on call when I am ticking off a to do list, or feeling stressed, or in a meeting with 7 minutes allocated to brainstorming but while I am worried about something else at my desk.

Watson talks about being struck by Paul Theroux's reflections in The New York Times on "America the Overfull", in which he lamented the loss of "a country of enormous silence and ordinariness (and) empty spaces": "I grew up in a country of sudden and consoling lulls, which gave life a kind of pattern and punctuation, unknown now," Theroux wrote. "It was typified by the somnolence of Sundays … There were empty parts of the day, of the week, of the year …"

He goes on to talk about the important role of quiet time in allowing the brain to develop long term memories, and to the quality of thought, the opportunity for new ways of thinkinng, or creative thought: "The imperatives of productivity and efficiency demand that not a minute be wasted. Time is money. But the cost to our quality of thought is immeasurable. We are too busy to think." This leads to some interesting questions about 'quality of life' and whether the growth in economic wealth in Australia has come at the cost of time, and what that might mean for a society our like ours. Especially, perhaps, as we face big problems that need new approaches.

(Source: "Can't think now, I'm busy" John Watson, The Age December 1, 2007
From:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/cant-think-now-im- busy/2007/11/30/1196394620979.html?page=fullpage )