Comment by jaccola
13 days ago
Funny, I’m the same. I also like taking walks to think but I’ve found that I must have my head pointing almost directly down (I.e. looking at my feet). It’s also how I stand thinking in the shower, with the warm water hitting my angled neck. Maybe something beneficial about that position of the neck, or maybe just habit!
I will also have conversations in my head during my walk, I’ve done this my whole life and I’m not sure to this day whether my lips move during these or not. In any case, I must get some funny looks with head bolted to the ground mumbling to myself…
Sing it!
As for the software. I would not want a camera on 24/7 (on any device, a compromise being my doorbell, which isn't cloud connected). It'd defeat the small LED which informs you it is on (since it is always-on), and if the machine is compromised this is a method to receive personal data.
Actually, I'd prefer a hardware killswitch on things like camera and microphone.
Post-It makes an excelent kill switch for the camera. not effective for audio though
Alas, I'm not alone in meditating and thinking while taking a shower. It's one of the moments of my day when I recollect what happened, what I need to do, and what not to do.
The problem is that I can get quite lost during this phase, and hot water isn't cheap, so my SO is always threatening to put a big timer in the bathroom.
My pet hypothesis about why shower is often praised to be such a mindful place is that it has not so much to do with water and more to do with the fact that for many people life alternates between 1) constant social interaction and interruptions from other people and 2) bathroom time.
How many people these days have a dedicated home office, off limits to anyone else? How many partners sleep in different rooms?
Sure, perhaps the sensory experience plays some role, but if your bathroom is reliably the most interruption-free place for you, naturally you’d form a habit of catching up on all the “slow thinking”, most negatively impacted by interruptions, during shower.
I’ve seen people with interruption-free solo hobbies (be that hiking in the woods, motorcycling, rock climbing, etc.) describing similarly mindful experiences, but unlike those shower is the lowest common denominator and perhaps one that happens most routinely.
True, I hadn't framed it that way either, but it makes sense. Sometimes just stepping away from the usual rhythm creates its own kind of reset
I’ve gone home from work before to take a shower. At least one time I took multiple showers in a work day to think.
I now live somewhere that hot water is expensive and I didn’t realize how good things were before.
In my case, though walks help declutter my mind somewhat, for deeper thoughts, I have to write it down sitting or laying in the bed in the worst of positions. Thinking too deeply while walking only leaves me anxious in the end as I tend to get sidetracked a lot in conversation and always have to restart the conversation over and over again.
I used paper a lot to jot my ideas and all sorts of diagrams but lately I just pull Claude and chat it out, it works like a thinking environment.
I tried doing the same. Sometimes it made my understanding of things much clearer. However most fimes, I found it worked best when I had a clear idea on paper, either to validate the idea or when I needed to an opinion. Otherwise, ChatGPT in my case, built upon my idea that I hadn't thought through well and confuse the shit out of me.
Yes, shower thinking with warm water on my neck is absolute peak. In those conditions I'm unafraid of tackling the most challenging of thinking.
Wear earbuds like you’re on call or recording something
I've fully embraced looking insane in public. Try it some time; you won't go back.
haha, sounds good.
I have my best ideas and illuminations for the day when I brush my teeth in the morning. Somehow, that's when I can think best.
I suppose in that position your head has lower elevation, allowing for better circulation.
Talking to myself is the only way to crystallize certain thoughts.
Uhhh… are you me? No other comment has hit more home. Nice. Mayne there’s something about these physical practices helping mental abilities.