Catching yourself#
Weeks 1–4. The part you already recognise.
You are not thinking too much#
You are thinking in a loop that never reaches an end.
The layered “OK”#
One two-letter reply. The room adds readings until it runs out of road.
- nobody is allowed to resolve it
- only to add another possible meaning
- then work out which layer stopped learning about the message and started projecting
There is no correct answer. Noticing the seam is the exercise.
Rumination is not reflection#
Nolen-Hoeksema’s distinction is about mode, not amount.
| Mode of thinking | What it is called |
|---|---|
| Circling the problem, rehearsing the framing | rumination |
| Moving toward something | reflection |
So the useful question is never “am I thinking too much.” It is is this loop adding anything, and would I notice if it stopped.
Why it is hard to put down#
Borkovec’s cognitive-avoidance model says worry is verbal, and being verbal is the point. It sidesteps the imagery and the physical response a feeling needs before it can be processed.
It feels like work because it is work. Just not the work that resolves anything.
One leading theory, with live rivals. Not a settled cause.
The reveal#
Describe the spiral. Stop before the ending. Let the room guess.
Then look at the pattern rather than the punchline. The guesses skew toward the version that was overthought, not the version that happened.
I didn’t get out of it. It just eventually stopped mattering.
An honest answer, and more useful to the room than a tidy one.
How you stopped#
The exits people actually use, sorted.
- time-boxing. A limit from outside the thinking
- making it external. Saying it aloud, writing it, telling someone
- interrupting the body. Moving, cold water, leaving
- ending the uncertainty. Just asking, just sending
- making it ridiculous. The stupid voice, naming the spiral
Notice how many are ways of ending something rather than thinking better.
Next#
Why a loop repeats. The mechanism, and the week the course finally makes its argument.