I Thought (About A Thought)

Being out on the road is one of my favorite ways to spend my time. The freedom and feeling of adventure is one that I have become addicted to and that I crave constantly. As soon as I get home from tour, it isn't long before I'm planning my next trip, or adventure.

One of the things I have gotten from traveling that I am most thankful for is a stronger and more in-depth understanding of how Esteban works (and let me tell you he's one goofy mother fucker). On an every day basis human beings are most concerned with two things: when am I getting my next meal and where and when am I going to sleep? This is not to say all I think about is food and sleep, but in general I would say thoughts of food and sleep are high on the human priority list.... Being on the road immediately puts you in "flight mode" and elevates your senses to "okay this is a new environment let me see how I can optimize this for myself and make this more comfortable." Being in "flight mode" also introduces a myriad of other, more in-depth thoughts, which are the thoughts this blog post is concerned with. And more particularly, addressing those thoughts.

What are you thinking about in moments of discomfort in order to make yourself more comfortable? What are you craving? What does your mind wander towards? It is known that a large percent of the thoughts we have on a daily basis are re-occurring thoughts. Being in a van for weeks at a time has given me a lot of time with my thoughts and the ability to recognize re-occurring thoughts. I have been able to recognize not only familiar thoughts, but also the thoughts that only occur in certain circumstances, and thoughts that only occur after certain lengths of time on the road. I have found that by asking myself a few questions as to why a certain thought arose, I can find the root of the thought, and develop more effective habits of thinking, because I now know the reason behind a particular thought.

An example: there is LOTS, I mean LOTS of downtime on the road. The name of the game is "hurry up and wait." And I noticed that in the times that we would be doing nothing immediately my brain would want to pick up my phone and start mindlessly scrolling through social media. In my opinion, it is not healthy if this is what my auto-pilot is set to. SO. I set out to fight the urge. Every time I wanted to grab my phone, I didn't. I waited. And then 30 minutes would pass and I would forget I even wanted to grab my phone (I'm basically the Dalia Lama). But then I would get bored shortly after and this process would start all over again.... what I realized was that my phone was my connection. It was my connection to the life I had left at home and the ability to see and stay connected with all of my friends at home. Whereas instead I should be soaking in my time on the road and the multitude of new experiences coming my way every day. 

As with all of my blog posts, and the advice I may give, I don't claim to know anything, I am simply sharing from my personal experience. 

I'd love to hear about different ways you set out to clear unwanted thoughts, how you recognize them, or even simply a few ways you maintain yourself mentally. 

As always. With love.

- RIVIR