INSOMNIA… BY EVELYN JACKSON

A wise man once asked the following question:
“Do you ever take a break to be creative? Do you ever just stop and breathe and work on things.”

I have always been intrigued by individuals whose minds seemed to float about, as opposed to running on parallel tracks as I was convinced mine did. These were the individuals who had a witty sense of humor—they could produce clever comebacks at the drop of a hat. Sometimes it was the individuals who would spout out comments that seemed entirely unrelated to anything going on in the general vicinity. Where did this inherent creativity come from?! It was infuriating at times.

Me?
My brain runs in a straight line.
It follows tangents.
Then it gets to be around 2am.
This is when my creativity comes to me.
This is when my brain slows down.
It starts to branch off its tracks.
I don’t sleep.
I don’t dream.
I make lists.
Mental lists.
Written lists.
A pen and post it notes by my bed.
A fresh notepad every week.

Therein lies my greatest ongoing challenge. How do I slow my mind and allow it to wander? How do I clear my head during daylight hours enough to let it fill with fresh ideas?
*note: the better part of this post was written at 2am on a stack of green post it notes*