Clearing Your Mind

by Carl Nelson

Since the problems presented by Hamas, Democrats, WHO, CDC, RINOs, the CCP, the EU, Judicial Lawfare, and finally (but most importantly) Women… will probably be around a while – it seems useful that we should have a few means of clearing our minds, if, for no other purpose but to get a good night’s sleep. I have something to offer here.

I speak as someone of 75 years of age. At this point in life, solutions which can be decades in arriving – have arrived! They are pulling up to the loading dock now. And I think it would behoove me to share a bit of what I have found – and am uncrating.

First, let me just note, that it took me many years to understand that the fix for a leaking toilet tank valve apparatus was not to be come by. This is because the failure is too small (and disseminated) for the eye to see. As the tank apparatus ages, calcium carbonate crystals will deposit on its structures preventing their smooth operation. You will not be able to see this, and so, will not be able to locate the problem. The fix is to replace the entire assembly. “Out with the old, on with the new!” This will help you to achieve a better night’s sleep.

Now, as to the tide of tyranny overwhelming the entire world with (the concomitant) individuals’ lack of agency! I can only say that the answer (to a good night’s rest) must necessarily come from within.

At 75 years of age, I have found ¾ of a night’s sleep fairly easy to come by, even when interrupted by bathroom breaks. However, it is that last 2 hours of restorative sleep which can be hard achieve. It is at this point in the process where a sleeper’s mind feels enough restored to begin daydreaming rather than REM dreaming. And once begun, the process is hard to turn off.

Sleep authorities often suggest calming your mind for sleep by directed meditation. They suggest visualizing a calm image e.g. being held by a loved one, a lovely beach with lapping waves, or by a crackling fire watching the snow outside fall. Once your mind has calmed, your need for more sleep will reassert itself. I’ve found this latter to be true, but that the former images haven’t been effective.

I think this is because those pleasant calming images have very much in common with the daydreams and concerns which are keeping me awake in the first place. They are likewise aspirational fantasies- and hard to ground.

Be that as it may, what I have found that DOES seem to work is to actively meditate on a very boring image. For myself I visualize a portion of my dog walking route. There is a long stretch of street, an intersection, and then more street, with nothing remarkable to view. And to further focus, I visually follow the sidewalk strip and curbstone as we walk along. This can take some effort, but the pay-off is that after sweating it out for a bit – I find myself later waking up from a real dream, and having accrued my final needed topping of sleep.

Just recently I have discovered an accelerant for the whole process! While visualizing the parking strip grass, I remember how irregular (and bothersome) the grass there is to walk across, when I am forced onto it by a car passing in the street. This immediately places me firmly within the moment and sleep comes soon thereafter.

This is something I had previously realized in a poem – but hadn’t realized, myself, until just the other night:

…you want to live in the moment?
Just try a home repair.
The moment will grasp you by the balls.
The son of a bitch won’t give up.
It’s like trying to pass a stone.

And so I recommend it.