The Destruction of the Wide-Open Playgrounds of my Mind

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Abstract

ife is filled with the internet and other entertaining activities, my childhood seems like some kind of boring hell, but it wasn’t.I look back on my childhood and I was rarely bored because all of those wide open spaces and silence were playgrounds for my mind. My world was not crowded. I did not multitask as rarely did more than one thing present itself for my attention.I invented games for myself, made up stories, taught myself to braid hair, practiced sewing, wrote a cookbook of all of our family recipes, and milked goats.When I was a teenager, my world changed though. We moved into a city, got a TV and a telephone that wasn’t a party line. My world began to fill up.Just like the urban sprawl that has made my hometown almost unrecognizable from what it was 40 years ago, the easy availability of entertainment has eaten up the silent, empty spaces of my childhood, not only in my daughter’s mind but in mine as well.I used to have an empty space when I would do the dishes. I could feel the hot, soapy water on my hands and my mind was free to wander. Then I discovered podcasts. At first, I would stop after listening to just one podcast. I would think about what they said and even take notes on the things I wanted to remember.Soon I was just listening to one after another, not stopping to reflect and my mind began to feel cluttered but I didn’t stop. After a while, the cluttered feeling went away and it just felt normal th

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at that silent time was now filled. One of the unappreciated playgrounds of my mind disappeared.I used to have an old car with a broken radio and a broken air conditioner. I had to keep the window rolled down and there was no possibility of listening to anything but then I got a newer car and I discovered books on tape. I could read so many more books now, but another playground disappeared.I used to stand in line silently, fidget and think my thoughts until I got a smart phone. Now, at the first sign of boredom, I reach in my bag and start scrolling. At this point, it is a reflex, I am often not even conscious of doing it. Another empty space, filled.I no longer have to devise my own mental games to fill the empty playgrounds of my mind, I have outsourced that job to those who are adept at keeping me entertained. My mental space is filled, but am I better off for it? What have I given away in my acceptance of easy amusement?I have given away boredom, and with it the time and space for creativity. My mind no longer wanders along unknown paths, connecting ideas, dreaming up solutions to problems, wondering “what if…”I didn’t value those playgrounds and now, to find them, I have to hack through the vegetation I allowed to proliferate unchecked, knock down the habits I have fallen into and allow myself to be comfortable in the wide open. I have to turn off the entertainment and take back the job of thinking for myself.</article></body>

What we give up when we chose to be entertained

Photo by author

The California of my childhood was full of tumbleweed, cactus, rattlesnakes and not much more. The mountains were big and the sky was even bigger. Wide open spaces abounded.

Back in the 1970s, my parents considered it their job to keep a roof over my head and food in my stomach and if anything was actually life threatening, to seek medical attention.

They did not consider it their job to entertain me and my brother during our down times, even though we didn’t have a TV and the internet wasn’t a concept yet. Playdates were not a thing and I can honestly say that “helicopter parenting” was the opposite of their style.

“Go outside and play.” was something we heard a lot, and so we did. There was an old abandoned dump down the hill from our farm house where we could use our slingshots to break glass bottles.

There was a haystack where we could experiment with sound absorption. We would go in between the stacks of bales and shout at each other and marvel that even though we were really close, we could barely hear each other.

And we could go find a shady place and just sit quietly with our thoughts. To my daughter, whose life is filled with the internet and other entertaining activities, my childhood seems like some kind of boring hell, but it wasn’t.

I look back on my childhood and I was rarely bored because all of those wide open spaces and silence were playgrounds for my mind. My world was not crowded. I did not multitask as rarely did more than one thing present itself for my attention.

I invented games for myself, made up stories, taught myself to braid hair, practiced sewing, wrote a cookbook of all of our family recipes, and milked goats.

When I was a teenager, my world changed though. We moved into a city, got a TV and a telephone that wasn’t a party line. My world began to fill up.

Just like the urban sprawl that has made my hometown almost unrecognizable from what it was 40 years ago, the easy availability of entertainment has eaten up the silent, empty spaces of my childhood, not only in my daughter’s mind but in mine as well.

I used to have an empty space when I would do the dishes. I could feel the hot, soapy water on my hands and my mind was free to wander. Then I discovered podcasts. At first, I would stop after listening to just one podcast. I would think about what they said and even take notes on the things I wanted to remember.

Soon I was just listening to one after another, not stopping to reflect and my mind began to feel cluttered but I didn’t stop. After a while, the cluttered feeling went away and it just felt normal that that silent time was now filled. One of the unappreciated playgrounds of my mind disappeared.

I used to have an old car with a broken radio and a broken air conditioner. I had to keep the window rolled down and there was no possibility of listening to anything but then I got a newer car and I discovered books on tape. I could read so many more books now, but another playground disappeared.

I used to stand in line silently, fidget and think my thoughts until I got a smart phone. Now, at the first sign of boredom, I reach in my bag and start scrolling. At this point, it is a reflex, I am often not even conscious of doing it. Another empty space, filled.

I no longer have to devise my own mental games to fill the empty playgrounds of my mind, I have outsourced that job to those who are adept at keeping me entertained. My mental space is filled, but am I better off for it? What have I given away in my acceptance of easy amusement?

I have given away boredom, and with it the time and space for creativity. My mind no longer wanders along unknown paths, connecting ideas, dreaming up solutions to problems, wondering “what if…”

I didn’t value those playgrounds and now, to find them, I have to hack through the vegetation I allowed to proliferate unchecked, knock down the habits I have fallen into and allow myself to be comfortable in the wide open. I have to turn off the entertainment and take back the job of thinking for myself.