Parking Your Cars

I have come up with so many ideas for writing. In fact, they've been spinning around in my head for the past day and two nights.

I once heard a person describe multiple ideas zooming around in one's brain as "cars that need to be parked". I completely understood to what she was referring. She then went on to explain how she "parked" her "cars" in a "garage" so she could begin to focus on developing each idea (car). Her garage? A notebook.

When I heard that, I thought, “Brilliant! That explains why I feel compelled to write down lists and lists of things. And when I do, I feel so much calmer and more organized, even if I don't complete EVERYTHING on the list."

I recall going to a NP quite a few years back for a physical. She got me to talk about the things I did to feel calm (because, frankly, I didn't feel calm most of the time). Besides going for a walk and getting adequate sleep, I told her that I wrote lists of things I wanted or had to do. She then asked me if I completed the lists. I told her that I didn't. She then gave me a disapproving look, as if I was not doing what was necessary to have the calm I desired in my life. I felt ashamed. I felt like a slacker.

From that time, I tried to complete my lists, but let me tell you, my lists were long. There was not enough time in the day/week/month/year, plus I didn't have enough energy/desire to complete all of these things. I continued to fail to complete the lists. I continued to feel like a failure.

BUT when I began to understand that my list-writing was PART of a PROCESS to get to the IMPORTANT things, I began to give myself some space to ENJOY those things I completed and not worry about the things that continued to linger on my lists.

When I began to see putting down my ideas on paper as “parking my cars”, I was able to understand that I put them there so I could FOCUS.

I just want to deal with one idea at a time so that I can give it what it needs to be developed. This has been a hard lesson for me because I am a generalist by nature and want to do everything. But WANTING to do is different than ACTUALLY doing.

I am finite. I have limited time, resources, and skills. I need to figure out what the better/best things are for me to be spending my time on. I’m not going to be cliché and say something like “Faith, Family, Finances, Friends, Fun”. I don’t think in such separate categories. Everything is interconnected; at least, in my head it is.

Hence, the success of using a “garage”. It helps me to disconnect the ideas from each other so that I can look at their different perspectives and decide how useful they’re going to be for me. (I was about to say, “for my goals” instead of “for me”, but my goals are fluid. They can change with changing circumstances because I think I tend to be a realist. Not super sure about that. But that’s where I’m at right now.)

For now, I have two to three garages: my planner (a monthly/daily), an app for housework reminders, and my blog. My blog is new. I’m still trying to figure out how this will help me sort through my ideas. As I continue to write, I’m hoping my ideas will become clearer to me.

It’s a process. And I like it that way.