The Restless Mind

When rest is what you need most

Photo by David Mao on Unsplash

My rather stressful week docked in tranquil seas. I’d been thinking about the placard I wanted to design and paint for the rally on Saturday and successfully completed it without burning the midnight oil. As is often the case when a time of stress gives way to a longed for respite, there was a cold waiting in the wings, coiled like a spring, just waiting for that unguarded moment.

First came the sniffles which tuned into bouts of sneezing and I could feel my nostrils tighten like wrung cloths. I sometimes wake up with the sniffles and a bout of sneezing but more often than not its all gone by lunchtime. It’s generally different when it comes in the evening and, as could be expected, I was woken several times. By the morning the cold had well and truly set in.

The discomfort was slight but gradually a very mild fever came over me and my mind began doing what the mind always does in this situation. Every sneeze was an event that needed to be set in context, the context being something entirely random relating to nothing. I had the presence of mind to appreciate how random and unimportant these thoughts were but though I dismissed them out of hand they kept coming.

Then they became more complex, painting abstract scenarios and demanding my attention. The minor euphoria, reminiscent of my…