The Bullsh*t Engine (aka The Mind)

At some point in the past two years, it dawned on me just how much B.S. the mind is able to generate 24 hours a day. The reason I say 24 hours a day is because of dreaming. Even when you think you have found peace and calm, the mind just keeps motoring away.

When you find yourself in a sticky situation, the mind is happy because it thinks it now has a job to do. It will try to convince you that if you keep ruminating over everything you will be able to figure it out. I should be a bit more specific here, that it’s the ego which is to blame for generating all these stories out of thin air.

And by thin air, they came from all the information you’ve taken in over the course of your life, be it the way that parents and teachers dealt with you to the feeling of touching a burning hot stove last week.

As a musician and creator, I have found that the bullsh*t engine on its own doesn’t really help very much. It is not very supportive of trying out new things and going out on a limb with your work. What I do like about it though is the fact that it shows you that you can come up with ideas all day long.

When directed at the wrong target, our minds can go off into very dangerous territories. Just look at what happens when you doom scroll on social media and get jealous of others who are making it ‘look easy’. On a larger scale look how toxic the mind can be when collectives are formed around mentalities such as scarcity, selfishness and xenophobia.

If we learn to direct it to the things that we’re most interested in achieving in life, or on a larger scale causes that seek to help other people and the planet rather than do harm, this is a fantastic tool to have on our sides. What constitutes “wrong and right” uses of the mind are personal, but I’m sure you’re aware when you’re living and working out of alignment with your north star.