How Being Overwhelmed Can Trigger Other Feelings
Dear readers,
I am not feeling right this morning.
I woke at 6:15am when my husband left for work and instead of getting up, I chose to stay in bed “a few more minutes”. That led to an additional 45 minutes of sleep, but my imagination soared and I awoke from unsettling dreams.
I cleaned up, went for a walk and tried to log on to work. Surprise, the Blue Screen of Death. It seems my company got caught up in the global computer outage today and although some coworkers were fine, I was not.
This lead to frustration and panic. Not because I had anything particular to get done but because I was already in a negative state of mind. Technology can overwhelm you very quickly. When it works, it works well. When it doesn’t, nothing else does either.
Then, I opened my emails and I found a publication from
about the hope of travel. You can read about it here. It was a wonderful article but its timing was not my friend.In addition to the negative mindset that I woke up to, I have felt a bit lost recently. I have a strong desire to leave and go somewhere. Just wander. No particular place in mind, just not here.
I responded to the question of “why do we find ourselves dreaming of elsewhere” with this:
This is a question that has been asked a thousand times.
For centuries and perhaps millenniums, people have been seeking a new life, a new place, a new adventure.
Look at the Vikings who set off from Denmark and discovered places like Iceland, Greenland, Northern Canada.
They had a vision that there was something out there.
They sought the adventure and were credited and praised for it when they found it.
I think the need for adventure lies within all of us.
But not everyone recognizes it or wants to investigate it.
Those that have taken that leap of faith and ventured into the unknown will always have that desire.
We may not understand what we are looking for, but we cannot ignore the restlessness and the feeling that there is something more in our lives.
When I combine this feeling of restlessness with the feeling of overwhelm, it takes me to a place I do not want to go.
I feel depressed and want to be left alone. I know that shaking this feeling is key for my overall mental health.
Is this akin to what the early explorers felt?
Did overwhelm in their current lives drive them to seek out greener pastures?
Did vivid dreams guide them to the new worlds?
We may never know the answers to those questions but acknowledging our own feelings and causes of overwhelm can help.
I know my computer issue at work will be resolved in a few hours or days.
Resolving my feeling of restlessness is another issue. In this attempt, I have a planned three month break early next year. Will it help? Perhaps.
Or as in Justin’s article, will I discover the paradox of travel,
that after we’ve journeyed far and wide to visit “there” it quickly becomes “here” again—fading from mysterious and enchanting to gradually becoming familiar and known,
and that
the restless wanderer in us soon develops itchy feet once more and begins contemplating “out there” once again.
Has today’s society reached a point that everyday activities and interactions create such overwhelming emotions that we want to run away to avoid them?
What say you?
I resort to gratitude to enjoy every day. And I spend plenty of time in front of a computer, sometimes 12 hr days depending on the schedule. But there is so much to be grateful for! Not least of which is articles like yours on Substack.
I do find it hard to believe that things are more difficult than they ever were or that we are more overwhelmed than other humans in other time periods. I think it’s the universal human experience.
Every group of us thinks we have it rougher than any other, things are more difficult to deal with, but I doubt it. If that were the case, with things constantly getting worse every generation, we would be living in a true hell by now.
Imagine bombs dropping from the sky and buildings exploding, and we might realize those humans in war are the most overwhelmed. I bet they dreamed of being elsewhere.
An apropos day for contemplation and mild indecision, Laura. You were spot on and just didn’t know it. Here’s to hoping that the internet gods and reverse hackers get this ‘settled’ tout suite. Hope hope.