A brain at rest...

I like to use different events in my life as experiments. Like when I was running a lot (over 30 miles per week), it was an experiment to see how my body would react to it as well as trying different things like diet and stretching to see how I could make it possible without injury. Well, my lack of coordination typically got the better of me, and, while I was successful avoiding injuries from running, I was not successful avoiding injuries from falling. I believe they call that a successful failure.

So, when I found myself unemployed, I decided to do as little computer work as possible. I thought about brushing up on some aspects, but I decided against it. I wanted to take a complete hiatus from it. I didn't really know if this would help or hinder me in my job pursuit, but ultimately I decided it wouldn't do me much harm, if any. Besides, it's an extremely rare opportunity to be able to fully rest your mind, body and soul for any amount of time.

My job as a network admin requires constant learning and research, but in day-to-day life, one rarely needs to learn new things. I found an interesting side effect of my mental hiatus - when I stop having to learn, I stop wanting to learn. After a couple weeks, I became mentally lethargic. I almost thought I was depressed. I wasn't. And I wasn't bored either. I was, for lack of a better word, uninspired. I wanted to really take a break and, wow, did I?! I've been working for over 20 years and I wanted to take advantage of my situation. It was so nice having the majority of the summer free. I believe it was really good for me. But, the mental melancholy was unexpected. I didn't even want to write on my blog! I thought I wanted to a couple of times and I did post a couple of random things but it wasn't anything I would call thoughtful.

So, now, I'm back working and I feel refreshed. My brain is coming back to life. Work must be my muse. Or at least, the action of working is keeping my other mental faculties moving as well. Whatever the technical conclusion, I see what happens. I felt what happens. I  believe it was neither bad nor good. It just was. Experiment over.