Lately, I’ve been thinking about thinking. About how it never stops. About how Our minds feel like locked rooms with lights that never turn off. (Not very Eco or efficient.) And if you're reading this, maybe you're like me— You don’t just think. You spiral.
It’s not your fault.
(Seriously. This one’s not on you. For once.)
You weren’t built for all this damn noise.
We live in a world of constant input. Dings, alerts, timelines, feeds, ads, texts, thoughts, expectations, notifications about your notifications. We need to acknowledge that our brains were never meant to be on this much. They were meant to scan a forest for danger and pick up sticks for fire– Not decode 87 mixed signals from a group chat while doomscrolling through late-stage capitalism.
You’re not broken. You’re just overloaded.
Overthinking is survival in disguise.
TO be clear: Overthinking isn’t weakness. It’s hyper-vigilance in a world that’s trained you not to feel safe.
If you’ve lived through:
- instability
- inconsistency
- abandonment
- performance pressure
- any version of “I can’t mess this up or I’ll lose everything”
Your brain is auditioning for Worst-Case Scenario Theater every night.
Running throguh different ways things could/can play out 24/7.
Of course, it’s trying to predict, prepare, and protect. That’s not dysfunction. That’s a learned skill in a fucked-up environment.
You're not dramatic. You're adaptive, this is impressive ya’ll but i know it sucks.
The brain gets stuck trying to publish an unfinished story.
Your brain, believe it or not, knows you better than anybody else.
Overthinking it’s not some stupid problem you need to get rid of. It’s your brain trying to be helpful in the most annoying way possible.
It wants to solve something. A thing that wasn’t processed. A moment that got silenced. A future you can’t control but would love to micro-manage.
That’s why Thinking through overthinking hardly ever works. You’re brain knows what it’s doing… it’s trying to be helpful... and clingy. Like your grandma.
It’s trying to finish the loop. It just doesn’t know how.
So what do you do with a mind that won’t quit?
Here’s where I offer a radical thought:
You don’t fix it. You listen to it differently.
Instead
Name it
“I’m in a loop right now.” That can soften it. By simply knowing when you are in a thought loop the more control you have.
Breathe Into it
Not to silence it, but to let it know you're here. Remind your brain that you can both take up space at the same time, besides only one of you is paying rent.
Get physical
Wash your face. Touch a wall. Let your body be real. Separate your thoughts from reality, because sometimes that's all we got.
Externalize
Write down the loops. Voice memo them. Let your thoughts have a place to go besides back into the LOOP.
And when you're ready— Come back to the idea that you are not your thoughts.
You’re the witness, but they don’t run the show.
You're not “too much.” Maybe you're just extra aware.
You feel a lot because you notice a lot.
You think a lot because you care a lot.
You replay things because part of you is still trying to survive.
You don’t need to silence yourself. You just need space to be heard.
Even if you’re the only one in the audience.
Leave a message after the beep...
If this landed, I’d love to hear what it stirred in you. You can leave me a voice memo — what we call a an echo — anonymously or with your name over on https://deadfriends.space/echoes/
Echoes are the heart of this thing. Sometimes I feature them in upcoming videos. If you're a Patreon member, you’ll even get early topic previews — which means if you Echo during that window, there's a good chance your voice will be part of the next video.