I am writing this right now sitting at my table, almost in total peace. The glow of a candlelight helps me to focus.

How strange our thoughts are. They just come and go.
They can be so random and blunt that they take us by surprise.

We have our resistance to them. Long built and constantly reinforced system of beliefs. Walls and boundaries we surround ourselves with.

They keep us safe, preserve our energy. And rightfully so – if we would focus on every thought that comes into our head, there would not have been enough time in a day to handle all of them. They are the constant stream.

We allow some of them to stick around and throw away the rest automatically. But the ones that remain commonly are not novel – they are just an addition to our already established system.

The brain doesn’t want to have entire new concepts to think of – it tries very hard not to – it is the most efficient approach. It filters out the ideas that could give us different perspectives by default.

What ends up happening, is when we are on autopilot we constantly reinforce our current beliefs and kick away alternatives with more and more fury.

We can get into this tunnel vision mode so hard that thoughts will be dismissed even when someone directly says them to us.
Especially if there is some trauma underneath. If the walls we built are tall and impenetrable.

That’s where the process of mindfulness comes in.

We can, with some effort, disable that filter. Allow everything we think to be noticed.

Required effort differs from thought to thought, from wall to wall, but it is still finite. And with time and experience, the energy we spend on lowering that barrier comes down dramatically.

Meditations, gratitude, affirmations, rituals, psychedelics – all of them have the same goal – turn off that damn mechanism of efficiency. Welcome pure and unexpected concepts to come into our mind. Kickstart the creative process.

And also the simplest one – being in the moment and present, feeling at peace or even just ok with the reality. It requires practice at the start, but no external effort – it can be done anywhere anytime.

Influx of ideas while we take the shower. Random insights while walking down the street.
It is a consequence of being relaxed enough that these new concepts are able to reach us.

Try to repeat it more. To consciously create moments of relaxation and peace.

It is not always going to happen – we cannot control our state 100% of the time.

All that is required is to do the only thing you have total control over – to create the best environment for relaxation to appear and improve the possibility of being present.

You are building the highway the dreams can take into your mind in the middle of a forest of your beliefs.

Next time you eat – try to focus on the taste and texture.
Next time you walk on the street – try to focus on your steps.
Next time you are in bed – try to focus on how your body comes in contact with it.

These are some of the meditation techniques. There are a lot more of them.
Find something that works for you.

My candlelights and morning rituals click with me well.
Just look at this article that stemmed from a single phrase.
I had no idea what I wanted to say at the start. But I allowed all that comes to me to be noticed. I allowed it to exist.
I was the conduit between my dream and the keyboard.
And I think it turned out pretty good.

Allow yourself to relax too.
Allow the highway to be built.