Break the Pattern

A key element of The Insomniac’s Hexagon — indeed, its foundational element in many ways — is Awareness. When I speak of a pattern, and the possibility of “breaking” it, this connotes a negative or non-beneficial regularity that ends up costing more than it’s worth, at best, and possibly more than we can afford, at worst.

What kinds of pattern? In my case, I often deal with patterns of body tension that arise from mental strain: automatic responses to situations, experiences, even words or phrases, that trigger some reaction that isn’t in my best interest. But when the pattern plays out, automatically and quickly, it’s too late to do anything but try and stop the flow of energy that’s causing the tension. That’s if I’m fortunate. And aware. Otherwise I might suddenly wonder why my back is sore, or why I have a headache, or why I keep tripping over the sidewalk or turning in circles and going nowhere.

Other examples of patterns might include automatic emotional responses to individuals (friends, parents, co-workers), suddenly feeling down or blue, snapping at strangers, or behaving in ways that don’t jibe with our self-image…any number of knee-jerk reactions to everyday experience. Awareness is the key to breaking these patterns we all have. First identifying by awareness, then modifying by awareness, and by the tools that foster a recognition of what’s happening in reality. In the chapter summary for Assemble, in The Insomniac’s Guide to Productivity, there is a chart showing the tools best situated to developing Awareness (p. 299 of the print book). I hope one or more of these can be useful to your own evolving sense of pattern recognition and modification.