What Do You Think About When Alone?

Downtime (above). You might think that most people dwell as you do when alone. Of course they don't.

There is quite a range to where people's thoughts habitually go to during downtime. And one of them is interesting.

The 'damaged' are unfortunately one large group of course. The mind will simply keep on returning to some past hurt or trauma - an unrequited love from teenage years; parental or work put-downs; or one of  the many other traumas returning all - of - the -time.

Or do your thoughts automatically turn to the dull organization of life (a much larger group is it)? The, in my opinion, trivial - what shall we eat tonight; what do I need to buy; shall I visit Maureen this Sunday or . . . ?

Of course the most tedious people are those who cannot stop themselves from filling their downtime with their anger management issues. Angry, and inadequate, people who stew in their boring grievance.

Filling downtime with a mood gained through some contemplation technique? Is that enough? Is an 'inner calm' enough of a life?

Perhaps the more interesting group is those who look outwards in their downtime, not inwards, and find something that they can actually use when next in company? Perhaps they catch themselves right at the start of sudden downtime and repeat the mantra 'make it interesting' or 'where's the story?' or 'make it funny'. Or does the repeating of the mantra distract and prevent any flow of imagination? I don't know. Certainly I can't do it.

Where your mind does in fact go during downtime, says much about you surely. Downtime is time without your public face on and without your public voice on, and it is where the thoughts have no construct governing them. And it's usually one of the few mysteries that you hold back from family and friends surely. What does your dad think about when he's on his own? What does your sister think about? Certainly I for one would have no idea at all.

Don't a lot of you try to never be truly 'alone'? Don't you play music, watch something, call someone, anything to avoid downtime? I, for one, am friends with one of these women: frankly it is impressive but a little horrific to watch.