Mind cleanup

Today’s writing prompt is this: What do you like most about your writing?

I like that it gets all this mess out of my head. Without writing, I’m not sure I’d be able to maneuver in the physical space of the world. I’d be too busy following tangled mental threads, running on hamster wheels of worry, running things I need to remember over and over again in my mind until I do the thing and I don’t have to remember it anymore.

I shared once that writing for me is like Dumbledore’s Pensieve, a magical repository where he can siphon memories out of his mind for storage and later review: writing things out removes them from my head so that I can get on with my external life. Unlike the Pensieve, I don’t just write memories, and I don’t necessarily write for later review. It’s more of a mental hygiene thing, like brushing my hair or clipping my nails. Writing helps keep things from getting tangled or growing into gnarly curled claws that get in the way of everything, or that break because they weren’t cared for.

I already spend a ton of time in my head. Without writing, I’m not sure how I would get out of it to navigate life.