This Is Why I Really Run and Write Every Day
‘Give your mind a job to do, or else it will find a job, and you might not like the job it invents.’
Give your mind a job to do, or else it will find a job to do, and you might not like the job it invents.
Like, eating the couch. Or destroying your life.
Understanding this has taken me a long time and many psychotherapy sessions. But it does seem to be the truth: when I am not actively creating something — miles on my NikeRun+ iPhone app or sentences in a Scrivener doc — I am actively destroying something (myself, my relationships, my health, or peace of mind). It’s either one or the other. Running and writing is not just a recipe for a contented and fulfilled life; it’s a survival mechanism. A way to keep my and everyone else’s sanity around me intact.
It’s weird. But ever since I was a little kid, I felt my mind looked like a reservoir behind a dam. The water accumulates, and so does the pressure, and if I don’t find a way to release that pressure, the dam will explode sooner or later. And believe me — it’s not pretty.
So far, in my 25 years on this planet, the dam exploded in a variety of ways: I broke off meaningful relationships with friends, girlfriends, and family members; I’ve lost tens of…
