When the Brain Feels Clear

Sometimes I find myself thinking about that old saying that ”you must forge while the iron is hot!”

Seems like it could be applied to my brain, as well!

The combination of aging with the fact that I have ADHD-ish tendencies, seems to mean that I sometimes find myself with a large degree of brain fog. And when I'm experiencing a large degree of brain fog, trying to focus on anything — and particularly anything creative such as writing — becomes all but impossible.

The thing that's slightly bothersome about it (or perhaps even frightening) is that I sometimes wonder how I've managed to navigate life as far as I have!

I think back to grade school — we're talking 5th or 6th grade here — And I quite clearly remember how I would sit in class and while the other kids were concentrating on the test or on something being explained on the board, I would be concentrating on how I could possibly manage to not go to sleep in the next two or three minutes. And I don't mean that metaphorically, I mean that I literally would go to sleep.

And yes, it was embarrassing, but even that didn't stop it from happening.

It became a bit of a joke in my family, because people generally agreed that if they wanted me to go to sleep all they had to do was give me something important to concentrate on!

While many people in life might take such a thing as "brain clarity" for granted, whenever I have a few moments — or even hours — of clarity I consider that a gift.

Over the years I've been given all kinds of helpful suggestions from friends and even from doctors and psychologists, suggesting that I should get proper sleep (which I do), or I should eat certain things, or I should take certain supplements, or I should exercise X number of minutes every day or every week and while I experience these this nice distractions, they don't actually do anything to help with my concentration.

The only thing I have found that effectively works is what I'm doing right now. I was sitting here, finishing up my cup of coffee And I suddenly realized that I was feeling pretty clear headed, so I immediately opened up a blank Word document and started writing.

I suppose I should interject here that while that's a technique I have the luxury of being able to follow it's hardly a practical way for most people to live. I'm just sharing that this is a thing that has worked for me over the years, and I have much gratitude that because I am able to do this, I am also able to at least appear marginally functional!

But it also explains how I can go through periods of being very creative, where I'm getting a lot of work done and then suddenly disappear off the map for several days or even weeks when my brain suddenly feels like I'm a turtle swing to swim through honey.

I don't share this because I'm looking to have a pity party or want to share an ”Oh, woe is me” story, but just to put down this observation about existence and how I have lived my life so I can look back at it later and say ”oh yeah, I remember that!”

Is it a bit self-indulgent? Perhaps it is, but then again this is my blog, right?

Thanks for taking a moment to stop by, and have a great week ahead!

How about YOU? Do you experience periods during whcih you feel much more "clear" than others? Are you able to make maximum usage of such times? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2025.07.21 00:40 PDT
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