The lockdown journal: To stun with clatter a mind that wishes to think*

“To stun with clatter a mind that wishes to think.”

Weak as I am, in order not to let my mind fly away on every wind that blows, yielding to

the slightest breath it encounters, it would be necessary either to have everything motionless

around me, or else, speeding on like a humming top, in movement itself to be rendered

impervious to external things.

Whenever, rotating slowly on myself, I attempt to speed up, the merest nothing—a word, a

story, a newspaper, a visit—stops me, prevents my becoming a gyroscope or top, and can

postpone or forever delay the instant when, equipped with sufficient speed, I might be able to

concentrate within myself in spite of what is around me.

We are obliged to eat, drink, sleep, laze, love; that is to say, to touch the sweetest things in

this life, and yet not succumb. What is necessary is, in doing all that, to make the anti-natural

thought to which one has devoted one’s self remain dominant and continue its impassable

course in one’s poor head. One must make of life a dream, and of that dream a reality.

--Pierre Curie, Excerpted from Madam Curie

I came across this paragraph in a biography of Marie Curie that I happened to be reading. My first reaction was surprise. I had somehow come to think that ours is the century of distractions--social media, online news, mobile notifications, you name it, we have it. Whereas, what could distract a person a century ago? I couldn't think of anything. This paragraph clearly proved that I was wrong. It is just the form of distraction that has changed now, but distractions as such have always been a woe for mankind. The second account on which I was surprised was that a scientist as eminent as Pierre Curie experienced distraction so powerfully. I had always assumed (without consciously realizing it) that people of that technical caliber were immune to anything that took them away from their work. But clearly, I was wrong on that account too.

Now during the lockdown, I can relate to every single word of Pierre's musing. Distractions abound, in every form possible. Just as I start working, the dusty floor calls for my attention, it needs cleaning. Mealtimes always seem to be approaching. Whenever I look at the time, I am reminded of some household chore that needs to be done. There are news articles being published every hour, several proclaiming dire futures. Memes are created every second, and are shared exponentially. Whenever I check my phone, there a dozen messages begging for my attention. Someone debating the reason for our existence. Someone who's bored and looking for conversation. A hundred emails from companies, who want to tell you what they're doing during the epidemic. A baby bawling from the adjacent house. My husband's voice as he attends to his numerous Skype meetings. Added to that, there are the temptations-- ever beckoning alluringly. When my alarm rings at the end of my afternoon power nap, I am so tempted to snooze it. Just 10 minutes, just 20 minutes..and the entire afternoon could vanish if I don't resist. That half-read book that sits folded invitingly on the table. Netflix, prime, TV, multiplayer games, they are all just a slide of willpower away from becoming a full fledged addiction. 

Clatter, clatter, clatter. How does one work? Forget work, how does one even think without being interrupted, sometimes by one's own thoughts on a tangential topic? Pierre Curie says that we should remind ourselves, time and again, every time we feel like succumbing to a distraction, of what it is that we want to do. Of what it is that we want to achieve. That we must paint a picture of what we want to achieve and treasure it as a dream, and then work relentlessly towards it.

In summary, to get distracted is universal. But what differentiates is what we then do. Do we allow ourselves to be drawn in and forget the task at hand? Or do we continually remind ourselves of our goal and course correct once again towards it? And not just once or twice, but persistently and consistently, through days, months and years.

P.S: I can think of more concrete tips than this, but I wish this article to remain as is: an ideal to follow, an inspiration to emulate. I will leave the implementation details to you, Reader! 

*Title credits: Pierre Curie