Thursday, March 15, 2012

Analysis Paralysis

Something's broken.  And I'm stuck.  One of the pieces on my cube broke and I have been too nervous to try to fix it.

I have been worried that glue would seep into the internal mechanism and render it useless.  Or that I might accidentally affix the tip of my finger to my cube and literally be stuck.  Either situation would be too painful to bear.

I have been too paralyzed to fix it and so I haven't been able to enjoy all that it has to offer.  But it hasn't been all bad.  It has forced me to spend some quality time with other, more neglected puzzles.

And that's just it!  Sometimes when you think one thing is broken, it could actually be a sign that your priorities are broken.  Perhaps I have been worshiping this particular cube.  Perhaps it broke because of overuse.  With all of this focus on this one cube, something else had to suffer.

I've had this sort of thing happen with my writing too.  Certain things in life tend to bubble up and wedge out what would be my writing time.  Just like the broken piece on the cube, things beyond my control prevent me from writing the way I really want to.  It's inevitable, and that's okay.

The problem is that I have been obesessing and worrying about not writing the way I'm used to.  I really should embrace this time as an opportunity to reevaluate my priorities.  Maybe something else is actually broken.  Maybe this is the new norm.  Maybe there is no glue to "fix" my writing.

In any case, I do think it's time to get out the super glue and fix that puzzle.

Does your writing ever suffer from analysis paralysis?

4 comments:

  1. Wait--Rubics Cubes aren't covered in stickers anymore? Now I REALLY have no hope of ever solving one! ;)

    When I suffer from analysis paralysis I stop and spend time writing nerdy parodies to popular 90s music. Works every time.

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  2. That's funny! The stickers are still there, but now there's an option for people who wear out the stickers all the time. No worries either way, though. You can always use a screwdriver and pop out the pieces to cheat ;-)

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    1. Phew. I was really scared there for a minute. :)

      And I'm not even going to make fun of you for having the version for people who wear out the stickers. I'm tempted, but I won't.

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    2. I lobbed that one up there for you :-)

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