Ideas Flow With Your Blood

Coagulation is awful. Well, unless you’re bleeding profusely, then I suppose it’s pretty awesome.

I’m speaking metaphorically.

If I may toss a little basic science your way, coagulation is when a liquid starts to thicken into a solid state. When you’re bleeding, your body all seems to be on the same page, and reacts accordingly. Blood’s supposed to stay inside, something happened to let it all start flowing out, your body says “Whoa, hey! We’re supposed to keep that in!”, and boom!, faster than you can say, “liquids into solids”, coagulation to the rescue. Your blood is still flowing on the inside. It runs through your circulatory system, right past the well-placed blood clot. Probably even throws a “Great job!” its way.

Coagulation is not so awesome when it’s the liquid flow of thoughts, questions, and ideas in your brain that starts turning into a solid block.

I’ve been stuck the last couple of days. My body has not all been on the same page. Thoughts, questions, ideas have all been flowing along, rather frantically, actually, inside my brain, randomly in circles, like a dog chasing its tail. Energy has been sent into my body to help unclog my brain, but with me just laying on the couch watching tv or sitting in front of my laptop staring at the blank page, that energy was beginning to solidify into anxiety.

Nothing was flowing out where I could hear it, where I could do anything with it.

It’s all in there! Everything! More thoughts, questions, and ideas than I know what to do with! Why won’t they get themselves organized and flow out of my head?!?

Finally, all that energy overcame my desire to sit still and hope my brain somehow magically freed itself. I bundled up against the 30 degree wind and the drizzly rain, drove to the park and started walking around the lake.

At first I was so uncomfortably cold, I questioned whether this was a good idea or not.

Then my blood started flowing.

And so did my ideas.

As each quarter mile went by, my heart beat faster. My body warmed up and so did my brain. Each turn around the lake loosened up another idea. Soon the ideas were flowing so fast, I could barely keep up. My pace seemed to quicken with every new thought that made it’s way out of the scrambled, crowded center of my brain and into a place where I could hear it.

So, my advice to you, next time you get stuck, is to get your blood flowing! Whatever that means to you. Gary and Bob Blood Cell don’t like being bored. If you give them a reason to move, they’ll be more than happy to guide your thoughts out of your head where you can hear them.