K’s intention to be more “Outside of Thinking Mind” resonated with me. I’m one who has acted as though there is always an intellectual resolution to every issue. All I have to do is think hard enough, I tell myself, and the answers will come to  me. Although “thinking about it” works for me in some aspects of my life, I can often end up over-thinking and getting all twisted up in my own thoughts.

Recent brain research “has shown that people do indeed make optimal decisions—but only when their unconscious brain makes the choice.” (via Science Daily)  Similarly, psychological research has  “found that people struggling to make complex decisions did best when they were distracted and were not able to think consciously about the choice at all.” (via New York Times)

We’ve all experienced times when a solution to a problem comes to us in our sleep, we find lost car keys when we stop looking for them, or brilliant creative ideas arrive in the shower. Not thinking about it works.

So why am I so reluctant to get Outside of Thinking Mind?