Sunday Scribblings Post-Prompt "Solitary"
Solitary
There are times when I need to just be on my own. It's usually because I have things I need to mull over or decisions that I need to make, and outside influences have proven less than useful. Knowing what I need to do has to come from me, and that means that sometimes, I have to take the time to listen to myself.
I've gone on moped rides and walks to achieve that purpose and I've had friends who just couldn't understand why I didn't want to tell them all about it. Fortunately, I've found him and he gets it. All I have to do is just tell him that I need a little time, usually adding something about “contemplating my bellybutton”, which he understands is my way of telling him that I need some time. It also tells him that it's got nothing to do with him, so he doesn't have to worry. He does occasionally start thinking on his own and I'm surprised how often his mind can run away with him, taking him down roads he shouldn't even need to travel.
We've developed our own lexicon together to convey, “Yeah, so not stressed because of you or anything you've said or done or contemplated, just gotta think.” I know it soothes him when I come home and pull out a notebook or add some things to the wall o' crazy in my writing room. It means I've come unstuck.
When he needs his time to think, he disappears into his shop and tinkers. There's a box in there that seems to contain a bunch of random spare parts that can be fitted together. As far as I can tell, it doesn't actually make anything. It's the all-metal, adult mechanic version of tinker toys, I suppose. If it helps him think, then I have nothing against it and he keeps them all in a box that stores on a shelf of his workbench. So, it's not in my way.
Usually, given a little time, we do talk to each other about what we've figured out, often, in my case, in a rambling, digressionary saga of foolish proportions. He's more straightforward. However we talk to each other about it, the method works for us, so, we stick with it. It's good that we can tell each other when solitary time becomes necessary.
There are times when I need to just be on my own. It's usually because I have things I need to mull over or decisions that I need to make, and outside influences have proven less than useful. Knowing what I need to do has to come from me, and that means that sometimes, I have to take the time to listen to myself.
I've gone on moped rides and walks to achieve that purpose and I've had friends who just couldn't understand why I didn't want to tell them all about it. Fortunately, I've found him and he gets it. All I have to do is just tell him that I need a little time, usually adding something about “contemplating my bellybutton”, which he understands is my way of telling him that I need some time. It also tells him that it's got nothing to do with him, so he doesn't have to worry. He does occasionally start thinking on his own and I'm surprised how often his mind can run away with him, taking him down roads he shouldn't even need to travel.
We've developed our own lexicon together to convey, “Yeah, so not stressed because of you or anything you've said or done or contemplated, just gotta think.” I know it soothes him when I come home and pull out a notebook or add some things to the wall o' crazy in my writing room. It means I've come unstuck.
When he needs his time to think, he disappears into his shop and tinkers. There's a box in there that seems to contain a bunch of random spare parts that can be fitted together. As far as I can tell, it doesn't actually make anything. It's the all-metal, adult mechanic version of tinker toys, I suppose. If it helps him think, then I have nothing against it and he keeps them all in a box that stores on a shelf of his workbench. So, it's not in my way.
Usually, given a little time, we do talk to each other about what we've figured out, often, in my case, in a rambling, digressionary saga of foolish proportions. He's more straightforward. However we talk to each other about it, the method works for us, so, we stick with it. It's good that we can tell each other when solitary time becomes necessary.