Keeping my ‘zen seat’ warm
Posted by Samar | Posted in Writing | Posted on 05-05-2009
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Warning & Disclosure: This post contains too much information.
I have a special place where no matter how big a mental block I’m facing, my brain just clicks and goes into over drive coming up with amazing ideas and words. I call that place my throne. My pot of ideas. My seat of zen. My… you get the drift.
It calls itself my toilet.
Warming my zen seat
Every time I face a blogger’s block or say yes to a project that I have no experience of, I grab my notebook and head to my loo. As the seat of my throne (literally) warms so does my brain and within minutes I’m well on my way to coming up with ideas.
Take today for example. I’d spent all morning trying to come up with a post. I wanted to blog, I had the topic but it just wasn’t the right topic for today.
So I picked out my moleskin, went to loo and sat on my seat.
After 30 minutes I came out with 18 new blog post ideas. 18! Almost ten of those ideas were detailed into how I’d write them. I also had the perfect topic to write about today.
Since the seat’s taken, find another place for yourself.
Taking my example, it’s safe to say that you’re not the one who picks out your spot. Your brain does. Mine picked out my toilet and yeah, lets not got there.
Your place of focus could be your garden, the love-seat by your window, the swing in your backyard or even your shower. It’s the place where you find the focus you need. It’s where you come up with some of your best ideas. You can go there everyday or hang out there on weekends. It your spot. You get to decide how to use it to gain maximum benefit from it.
Me? I wait till I have a problem to head to my seat for the sole purpose of brain storming. Don’t want my brain to get too used to it y’know? It would be a little difficult to explain why I set up my office in my loo.
We all have our zen seat. But I bet none of yours is as cool as mine 
Do you have a place where your brain starts working without you having to force it to concentrate? Can it challenge mine?
Picture Source: rossbr
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Warning & Disclosure: This post contains too much information. – Classic!
I do a lot of my writing on my “loo” as well. Usually that is where I handle all of my school papers. I seem to get the best ideas and sentence structure in there (don’t ask…I don’t know). I think it is because that is the only place in the house that I can lock the door and have my own room, plus I don’t get destracted looking out of a window or anything like that. Apparently my muse likes her solitude.
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It’s strange how we can come up with ideas while sitting on the toilet and not one of them is truly sh…
@ Sal – That’s what I think too. There’s something about being in the loo that puts my brain at ease – apart from the obvious!
You’re right, its the fact that no one can ‘demand’ that I get out. It’s also my most productive time away from the PC.
About your school – get a small folding table for your loo. It will help your studying!
@ Marc – Lol! Right on! None of my loo ideas are ever bad. Even if they are, I always come up with an awesome spin to them.
I definitely did a lot of reading in the bathroom when I was a kid. Now I use bathroom breaks as a way to clear my mind and take a mental break from work.
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Great post. I love how you refer to it as your “zen seat”.
I do a lot of my brainstorming in the shower. There’s something about the monotonous sound of the water that gets me into my idea zone.
@ John – I still am a bathroom reader
TV clears my mind. An episode of Grey’s Anatomy and Bones is my brain’s unwinding time.
@ Kris – Thank you
Zen seat is what came to my head as I sat on it writing my ideas down furiously. This post is a result of this phrase I coined while on my toilet.
I have a friend who says she has all her best ideas when she’s on the loo!
I get mine in the shower…
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@ Joely – It seems we all get our ideas in the bathroom. Weird huh?! I’ve learned not to question the mysterious powers of my zen seat
I propose the theory that it has to do with the water. Beaches have always been inspiring to me; boat trips more so; and even a plunge in a swimming pool has often jolted those brain cells into action. Hence the bathroom coincidences, I believe. I even named my business Splashdown Books because it’s the most inspirational image I know of!
@ Grace – Your theory is very interesting. It could be that. I spent the earlier part of my childhood travelling with my dad who was in the merchant navy. He was allowed to take his family with him on the trips once per ship or something. So while other kids grew up climbing trees and riding bicycles, I grew up learning balancing my weight on a sailing ship, climbing gang planks and occasionally sighting dolphins.
I love the name you’ve given your business!