That's how I refer to it.
When my thinking gets whacked out - its like there is a kink in my think - and I'm stuck on replay.
Some of you know about this. When something gets stuck in your brain and it sort of sucks the joy out of your life?
I get that way at times.
Someone says something negative and it sticks in my head.
Or someone misunderstands something, or I misstate something, and I can't correct it - sometimes I can't shake the feeling of disappointment or annoyance.
I could be having a bad day in the studio and begin to wonder what I'm doing it all for...
helllllllooooooooooooooo kink.
These things are 'kinks' in my think(ing). I actually refer to them as pink kinks in my think, named after a line from the Pixar short - Boundin'
Boundin' tells the tale of a little lamb whose coat was SO glorious that each day he would dance for all his prairie friends to see - and they would join in and dance too.
Great fun!
Until one day he got sheared.
Then he was pink and sort of wrinkly - and his friends laughed when they first saw him.
Little lamb sulked away until the great jackalope came and asked him what was wrong with being pink?
Seems he had a pink kink in his think.
why not dance anyway?
and so he did. And so did his friends.
Probably many artists can relate to the kinked think.
How we choose to think about things, what thoughts we ALLOW to take up residence in our brains, it can affect our words and actions.
So if you notice a kink begin to form in your think give it the boot! CHOOSE to dance!
Not always easy to change a pattern of thought, but here are some things I do:
"Timeout"
If someone/something is bringing me down, or if I'm just overwhelmed, I often choose to step away. I don't HAVE to answer that email or pick up that phone or solder that bail on RIGHT THIS MOMENT. It can wait. I have found its all still there when I get back. Life goes on and people rarely even knew I was in a self imposed timeout. :) When I come back, my thinking tends to be straightened out.
"I'd like to phone a friend"
We all have someone special in our lives, a good friend or family member that supports us and loves us know matter if we are fluffy white, wrinkly pink, or as the song goes even heliotrope. Nope! They love us for us! I often seek these people out, sometimes a quick hello and a little chit-chat, either about what's bugging me or about nothing at all - is all it takes to brighten my mood and give my brain a quick re-routing.
"Vertical thinking"
I do this one a lot, all the time actually - its prayer. Going vertical has a tendency to provide a huge release - and ALWAYS God reminds me that life is about so much more than whatever it is that is on this horizontal plane that is kinking up my thinking process. Hello peace of mind.
"Move that hand"
This has to do with narrow focus. Put your hand right in front of your eyes? It pretty much fills your entire field of vision. You really can't see anything else. When I'm down on myself for mistakes in my work or when I feel like I've just forgotten the tenth thing today that I needed to do for my son - sometimes it is helpful if I widen my field of vision. Move that hand back twelve inches and WOW! look at all the other things around me! Look at the great pieces I made the other day, or my body of work as a whole - the progression. Or all the things I DID take care of for my family.
"Learn to love pink"
Sometimes it's just as easy as that. Like the lamb, I can appreciate pink. I can be thankful for what IS instead of wishing for what's not. Welcome to contentment. :)
These are just a few things that help keep me sane and remove the kinks from my think so I can get on with life in a more productive, peaceful, and pleasant manner.
What do you do when your think has a pink kink?
