So last Tuesday hits me like a truck, y’know? Got this heavy, dragging feeling right here.
Sitting at my stupid desk coding and suddenly, boom. All I can think about is how much I wanna be swinging a pickaxe underground somewhere. Actual freakin’ yearn for the mines. Deep cravings for dirt, physical exhaustion, simple tunnels. Felt crazy!
Seriously, WTF?
First step? Admitted I wasn’t joking. Went outside my lame home office, grabbed actual soil from the garden pot. Squeezed it in my fist. Felt kinda stupid, honestly. A neighbour walked by. Awkward smile. But honestly? The cold, damp earth, the pebbles… weirdly grounding.
Tried to remember why this hit me. Oh right! Spent 12 hours straight staring at charts, felt disconnected from anything real. My brain screamed for primal effort.
Okay, Plan of Attack
Decided to fight this feeling with ACTION. Not just thinking.
Tuesday Night Attempt: Tried digging a small hole in the garden. Like, for a plant or something? Sounded logical. Got sweaty, got dirt under my nails. Progress! Felt good for like, 30 minutes. Then the neighbour looked again. Quit while ahead.
- Dirty hands win: Seriously, after the garden dirt? My head felt clearer. Just engaging a basic sense.
Wednesday Morning Strategy: Turned work into a “shaft.” Set a kitchen timer for 50 minutes. Task: code one “tunnel section” (module). Timer dings? STOP. Forced break. Walked around the block like inspecting the “mining operation” (my street). Felt less stuck, more like pacing my “shift.”
- Treat work like shifts: Didn’t need to be a miner. Just needed that rhythm – focused burrowing, then stepping back.
Wednesday Lunch Disaster: Tried eating bland gruel-like oatmeal to “simulate rations.” Massive mistake. Felt miserable and deprived, not miner-tough. Immediately ordered a ridiculously juicy burger. Lesson: miners need fuel too!
- Fuel your damn body: Replaced misery with satisfying, hearty food. Energy surged. Simple!
Thursday Breakthrough: Found cheap chunks of granite at the garden store. Heavy suckers. Started lifting them. Ten overhead presses during afternoon lulls. Felt the weight strain muscles, not just eyes. Immediate physical feedback loop!
- Heavy weight therapy: Dumb bells work, but rocks? Felt like moving ore. Satisfied the craving for tangible strain.
Friday Victory Lap: Took the dog for a hike. Not a scenic one. Found a muddy, steep trail down a creek bank. Scrambled, slipped, grabbed roots. Fought the incline. Came home filthy, panting, scratched. Felt fantastic. Pure, stupid exertion.
- Embrace controlled chaos: Doesn’t need to be a mine shaft. Just demanding terrain that makes you work physically, forces presence.
Where I’m At Now
The “mine feeling”? It pops back when I’m overwhelmed by abstraction. My tools are ready. Grab dirt. Set timers. Eat like I earned it. Lift something heavy. Find stupid terrain. It’s not about actually digging coal. It’s about tricking my overstimulated, under-physicalized modern brain into feeling grounded. Took a week of weird experiments, but I’m functional again. Phew.
