Brain fog and being a few apples short of a basket

I'm a few apples short of a basket these days.

This morning I made it to the end of one of my writing journals. It took all summer. Now I have a book full of half baked ideas and hazy thoughts. Beaucoup de Brain Fog.

Brain fog is one of those terms people toss around a lot these days. It is almost a fad thanks to Covid long haulers and this article from The Atlantic.

Absent-mindedness is different from brain fog. That just means you have a lot on your mind. 

Searching for words when your brain has been learning something new is different from brain fog. That just means your brain is tired. Go ahead and try to speak English well after taking an intense French class. Not good. Pas bon.

Brain fog is "a disorder of executive function that makes basic cognitive tasks absurdly hard."

That's from The Atlantic article.

Brain fog also happens after you've been under for a long time during surgery. So I know a thing or two about brain fog, except I can't quite remember what those things might be. The good news is that mine should be temporary and technically over soonish.

A few fun and irritating signs of brain fog:

• Someone says something and, though I heard them, I didn't understand what they said. As in, it sounded like a different language. *sometimes with Christophe it IS a different language*

• I'm telling a story and not just forgetting the point of the story, but forgetting the story mid-sentence. AKA "So yeah..." which is how the story ends prematurely. For a professional writer, this might be the most irritating of all.

• Needing quiet. More than usual for this introverted soul.

• Conversations are exhausting. Can't follow along. "I'm sorry... what?"

• Short-term memory is weak so important details must be written down in agonizing detail. I remember writing it, I just don't remember what I wrote and I have to reference it constantly.

• Long-term memory is fine so I know how to drive but I forget what I was there to buy.

• Routines are fine. Routines live in long-term memory so school pickups are always remembered but putting a load of laundry in the washing machine is forgotten. "Did I do that?"

• Details of conversations are lost. In some cases, depending on the person, this is a blessing.

• Relying on visuals becomes important... If I make stew, I can SEE that the carrots haven't been added yet, but with baking... Did I put the baking soda in already?

• Best not to leave the kitchen when something is on the stove.

Weirdness.

Though I can now bend and stretch and lift and go for walks after my surgery (and I won't get lost on the walk because that lives in long-term memory), my brain is somewhat on hiatus. Yesterday I was home alone and took a shower with the garage door wide open and front door unlocked. Thankfully it was only my mom that walked in. "The garage is OPEN! You were in THE SHOWER?!"

Fear not, my typewriter were not stolen. Laughably still there.

So I'm a few apples short of a basket these days.

Reading through my writing journal of summer is fascinating. "I wrote this?" As you'll learn from my Organizing Content course, it can be great fun going through your journal writing to mine for gems... even more when you have no recollection of writing any of it in the first place.

I know... hope... doctor says... I should have my brain back to optimal strength soon... hence the three month recovery period.

No biggie.

This past summer was definitely a one star review. Stares off in middle distance…