It is generally said that a wise person often appears to be dimwitted (Hsing Yun)

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Wie geht's?

Don't want to brag or nothing, but I'm really really good at positive compartmentalising.

Say whaat?

Com-part-men-tal-i-sing = dividing into sections or categories.

As named by Sigmund Freud, compartmentalisation is seen as a defense mechanism - a positive strategy, if you will, that is used to avoid feeling anxious.

The process involves the brain separating feelings or thoughts into different 'compartments' to avoid stress and anxiety. 

Whether this is something you can learn to do, or if it's an innate talent, I'm not sure, but I'm good at separating things like work, exercise, and home life. As I'm exiting the school gates, I'm good at closing that compartment and opening up another on the commute homeward.

It's a bit like folders in an email inbox or sections in my phone's Samsung Notes. Each one is discreet, and each one helps me sort my life out.

My Samsung Notes currently has 20 sections in it. Things like: Groceries; blog post material; Films and books; school notes, and so on.

If I had one section with everything in it, my brain would explode!

Admittedly, ignorance does have a part to play here too.

When those emails are tucked away in a folder, I can relax and forget about them. They're still there, and easily accessible, but I don't have them constantly in my mind.

As Hsing Yun says, things that we should not know we don't need to have any knowledge of, so that we are always carefree and at ease.

Somehow, over the years my brain has been trained to act like those folders and Samsung Notes. When I tuck something away, I know I can access it, but I choose not to.

Ignorance is bliss.

So far, I've been discussing positive compartmentalisation, but I also need to acknowledge the dark side.

That would be the tendency to ignore things and opt for bury-your-head-in-the-sand compartmentalising.

I'm aware of that tendency, but I see that as a potential byproduct of compartmentising that I avoid for the most part - although Jacky might argue with me and she may have a point.

But this is my blog - so I'm gonna maintain that I can compartmentalize like a boss! 

Try it! Who knows, it might work for you too.

Love and peace - Wozza