{"id":6771,"date":"2014-07-26T05:30:06","date_gmt":"2014-07-26T12:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=6771"},"modified":"2014-07-25T23:18:41","modified_gmt":"2014-07-26T06:18:41","slug":"dont-even-think-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6771","title":{"rendered":"Don’t even think about it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.
\n–F.Dostoyevsky<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What’s the flip side to overthinking everything?
\nTrying not to think about a particular thing. Person. Event. Whatever. Dostoevsky called it. It is very hard to do. Or rather, not to do. Try not to think of polar bears, and your mind will be full of them. <\/p>\n

The only thing that works to some extent is distraction. <\/p>\n

So I went ice skating. I have ice skated before, but not for years. Decades, maybe. I used to go skating with a coworker in the early 90’s. Yikes. A long time ago. <\/p>\n

It’s hard to think about things you don’t want to think about when you are concentrating on not falling and breaking a wrist. Or not crashing into a small child or getting crashed into by a little guy taking a hockey lesson. <\/p>\n

It kept the polar bears away for a little while, it was a lot of fun, and it was a (literally) cool place to be on a hot day. <\/p>\n

My knee has a bit of a bruise from my one dramatic wipeout, but no major damage. Maybe I should take a few lessons. That’d be fun, and then I’d also know how to stop!<\/p>\n

What else might be a good polar bear remover?
\n–Spin classes. I need to find a spin studio nearby. Spinning is good for polar bear removal.
\n–Art. Maybe I should dig out my sketch pads or actually use some of the Lino blocks and make prints.
\n–Tattoos. Great for polar bear removal, but very expensive.
\n–Reading, but I already do that.
\n–Sleeping. Like I am about to do now. <\/p>\n

No polar bears allowed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute. –F.Dostoyevsky What’s the flip side to overthinking everything? Trying not to think about a particular thing. Person. Event. Whatever. Dostoevsky called it. It is very hard to … Continue reading Don’t even think about it<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-1Ld","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11893,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=11893","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":0},"title":"My favorite things about hockey","author":"Michelle","date":"June 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A random list. In no particular order. The actual skating part. It\u2019s hard. If you are skating as hard as you can, you are almost out of control at all times. It\u2019s excellent practice for expanding your comfort zone because it is never comfortable The exercise. Hockey is fast. Very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Random thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Random thoughts","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/IMG_3160-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/IMG_3160-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/IMG_3160-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/IMG_3160-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/IMG_3160-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/IMG_3160-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4051,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=4051","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":1},"title":"An argument about mind reading","author":"Michelle","date":"February 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you want to get together later? Yes. ... ... Yes, and? ... ... Yes, I want to get together later. ... ... Shall I read your mind to divine where you would like to meet and where you would like to go? Could you? Ass. It would be really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6814,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6814","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":2},"title":"The futility of positive thinking","author":"Michelle","date":"July 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"So I wanted to go back to this. I mentioned it in passing, but it's a bit stuck in my brain gears. Remember Dostoyevsky's polar bear from the other day? I wondered if trying not to think negative thoughts works in much the same way as not thinking about polar\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2373,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=2373","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":3},"title":"Try it, you might like it","author":"Michelle","date":"November 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I like it simply cuz I like it. The weather, it's pretty I think I'm gonna hike it. No matter where I go There I am. It's simple I like it I like it I like it --Imani Coppola\/Soon (I like It) \u00a0 How many things are there that you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6721,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6721","url_meta":{"origin":6771,"position":4},"title":"Don’t look back","author":"Michelle","date":"July 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I never, she never, we never looked back That wasn\u2019t what we were good at And when it came to love We were not good enough. --Lumineers\/Slow It Down Not being good enough for love is something I think about a lot. Too much, probably. 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