I took the day off yesterday. For the first time in I don’t know how long.
Being a bit of a rebel, I chose the day that bookings start for a course I run.
Contrary to my expectation, my email wasn’t full of people wondering where I was. After all, how dare I not get back to them within 30 minutes?
I did have about 110 unread emails, but nothing unmanageable.
It’s good to be reminded that the life goes on without me trying to control it.
When you put it like that, I can see the appeal of nihilistic thinking. But even if I am a lowly non-flaggelated bacterium living on the eye of a blue-eyed giant, I want to be good at being such a bacterium.
According to my family, interactions with me felt qualitatively different today, now that I was rested. A remark I didn’t specifically seek out.
I also slept much longer than I normally do, suggesting that I was able to break out of fight or flight. (Alternative explanation: Merlot).
The morning was a haze: I dreamt of being with my friends, who travel to places man hasn’t really spent much time in, occasionally interrupted by some more frontal part of my brain reminding me of items from my list, concerning appointments and credit card details.
I also realised just how little time I actually spend producing anything. Instead, I expend a huge amount of energy on being in that anticipatory stressed state. Like Rocky waiting to be punched in the stomach.
I guess there isn’t really a way around that one.
A millennial's musings 
“nihilistic” Is it any wonder you are stressed.
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Ok, you will have to explain Mr Mel!
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Existential nihilism is the belief that life has no intrinsic meaning or value. With respect to the universe, existential nihilism posits that a single human or even the entire human species is insignificant, without purpose and unlikely to change in the totality of existence.
I would be stressed to think that this was what life was all about. but judging by the attitude of society you may be right.
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My solution to the problem is that I do meditation when settling for sleep, and in odd snippets during the day when I get the chance.
Before I retired, I used to do this between clients. The recommended caseload for a psychologist is 4 clients per day, because you need to read up before each session, then write up the case notes. I routinely saw 8, then do a home visit to a 9th, thanks to a minute or so of meditation after reading the notes for the next client.
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That’s actually amazing, that it had such a tangible effect for you
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