Last week I had a summer cold. It was a bummer as each day brought a new, shitty feeling. Sore throat one day. Runny nose the next. I’ve mostly recovered, but it had me thinking a lot about being taken out. Like shutting off for a bit. This was further explored in this week’s theme: going blank.
Let’s get into the recs:
1/ Humans experience an empty mind up to 20 percent of the time. What happens when our brain goes blank.
Researchers think that our minds are blank somewhere between 5 and 20 percent of the time. Neuroscientists face significant hurdles in adding color and detail to the mystery of an empty mind, but new research is trying to establish the edges of these formless thoughts…
“When we sleep,” says Demertzi, “Our neurons are getting rest by throwing away what has been accumulated throughout the day through the glymphatic system.”
Demertzi says that this toxin-clearing function–which is disputed by some sleep neuroscientists–may also occur in brief periods while we are awake. We notice these “pit stops” in cognition as mind blanks. Ultimately, these blanks may be a way our brain maintains high function for the rest of our waking experience. “How can you sustain a continuous wakeful life if our brains are not helping a bit?” says Demertzi.
Would love my dr. friends to weigh in here.
2/ I don’t know who else needs this, but here’s 22 ways to calm down. I used chew gum yesterday and it actually did help. But may have been the slight sugar pop mid-afternoon.
3/ Per usual, rec 3 is a bit of a stretch…the opposite of blank, tbh. But, I think it’s cool!
‘Inside Information’ Cutaway Diagrams by Dorothy Dig Into the Makings of Pop Culture Icons.
BONUS/ Have you ever used blank page? Fun little internet thing. Reminds me of 750words.com which I think I joined 20 years ago.
Anyway, that’s enough for today. Hopefully you’re not going too blank the rest of the day. See ya Thursday.