Cleaning up mind & Thought process.
A fresh mind isn't just a luxury, it's essential for navigating life's unexpected storms. When chaos disrupts our mental clarity, we must actively work to restore the psychological balance that allows us to function, thrive, and find peace again.
Hello to everyone reading this today,
I sincerely hope you're navigating life with grace and finding moments of peace wherever possible. Recent months have taught me lessons I never anticipated learning, experiences that reshaped my understanding of resilience, community, and the fragile nature of normalcy we often take for granted.
The period between July 12th and August 5th, 2024, marked a transformative chapter in our collective history here in Bangladesh. Political unrest merged with passionate student protests, creating a volatile situation that challenged everything we knew about safety, stability, and social order. Those weeks felt like living through a storm that stripped away our sense of security and replaced it with uncertainty and fear.
When Reality Becomes Too Heavy to Process.
During those intense days, digital platforms became flooded with disturbing footage, scenes of violence, bloodshed, and loss that seared themselves into our consciousness. Every scroll brought new trauma, every notification carried potential heartbreak. The psychological weight of witnessing such turmoil, even through screens, proved overwhelming in ways I hadn't experienced before.
Beyond the immediate violence, we witnessed seismic shifts across multiple dimensions of society simultaneously. Political dynamics that seemed permanent suddenly became fluid and contested. Social structures we'd accepted as unchangeable began transforming before our eyes. Revelations about corruption emerged with shocking regularity, while legal frameworks that had seemed dormant suddenly activated with unprecedented vigor.
For those of us living through these events in Bangladesh, the experience transcended mere observation, it became a fundamental recalibration of our reality. Life as we knew it paused, fragmented, and reformed into something unrecognizable yet undeniably real. Maintaining a fresh mind during such upheaval seemed nearly impossible.
The Wisdom of the Masses.
I won't position myself as a judge determining which actions were right or wrong, which side held moral authority or which decisions should have been made differently. History will provide that perspective with the clarity that only distance allows. What I will say with absolute conviction is this: when masses of ordinary people rise up together, they're typically responding to genuine grievances that have reached intolerable levels.
When everyday citizens collectively decide their rights have been sufficiently trampled, when they determine that silence equals complicity, their unified voice carries an authority that transcends individual political positions. The people, especially when demanding the restoration of their fundamental rights, possess a moral clarity that institutional powers often lack.
When Your World Stops Turning.
The societal upheaval forced an abrupt halt to every routine that structured my daily existence. My office closed indefinitely. The gym where I'd built both physical strength and mental discipline locked its doors. Social gatherings ceased. The predictable rhythm that had organized my life simply evaporated overnight.
This sudden cessation created a disorienting void. Without the familiar landmarks of routine, I felt unmoored, drifting in darkness without reference points or direction. The psychological impact cut deeper than I initially recognized. My mental state deteriorated as external chaos merged with internal turbulence, creating a feedback loop of anxiety and helplessness that clouded any hope of maintaining a fresh mind.
Days blurred together in an oppressive haze. Sleep became erratic and unsatisfying. Concentration fractured into useless fragments. The person I'd been just weeks earlier seemed like a distant memory, replaced by someone struggling to find solid ground in perpetually shifting terrain.
The Long Road Back to Normal.
As our interim government began implementing stabilization measures, a cautious optimism emerged. Citizens who had remained divided during the conflict started cooperating toward common goals of reconstruction and normalization. The collective desire for peace and functionality gradually overpowered the forces of continued chaos.
Watching this societal healing process, I recognized my own responsibility in personal recovery. Waiting passively for external circumstances to fully resolve before addressing my internal state would only prolong my suffering. I needed to actively participate in my own restoration, just as my country was participating in its own healing. Reclaiming my fresh mind required deliberate action, not wishful thinking.
Eight days before writing this, I made a conscious decision to reclaim my life from the mental paralysis that had gripped me. I acknowledged that returning to normalcy required intentional action, not passive waiting. My life wouldn't automatically become manageable and peaceful, I would need to implement specific strategies to rebuild my mental clarity and emotional stability.
Four Practices That Restored My Mental Clarity.
The following approaches emerged from both desperation and determination. Some came from research, others from intuition, but all proved remarkably effective in clearing the fog that had clouded my thinking for weeks.
1. Digital Detox During Crisis: Breaking the Scroll Addiction.
This recommendation might surprise you, particularly in an era where we've been conditioned to seek answers and comfort through our devices. However, I discovered that constantly checking social media and news feeds during crisis actually intensified my distress rather than alleviating it.
Most of us instinctively reach for our phones when anxiety strikes. We scroll desperately through feeds, seeking information that might provide reassurance or clarity about frightening situations. This impulse feels logical, surely more information leads to better understanding, right?
The reality proved devastatingly opposite. During the crisis, using my devices to chase constantly updating information created a vicious cycle of escalating panic. Each scroll brought new rumors, unverified claims, disturbing images, and conflicting narratives. The sheer volume of information, much of it inaccurate or deliberately misleading, overwhelmed my capacity for rational processing.
I encountered misinformation that sent me spiraling into unnecessary fear. I saw manipulated images designed to provoke emotional reactions rather than inform. I absorbed conflicting reports that left me more confused than enlightened. This information overload didn't just fail to satisfy my mind, it actively destabilized my mental state.
The impact extended beyond immediate emotional distress into practical dysfunction. My decision-making capacity deteriorated significantly. Situations requiring clear judgment found me paralyzed by contradictory data points and emotional overwhelm. I second-guessed obvious choices and overthought simple questions because my cognitive resources were completely depleted.
Eight days ago, I implemented a strict limitation: phone usage reduced to less than twenty minutes daily, with that time carefully allocated to essential communication rather than information gathering. The transformation was dramatic and immediate. Within just two days, I noticed my thinking becoming sharper, more focused, and significantly calmer. The mental fog began lifting as my brain finally received respite from the constant bombardment of distressing content.
This digital minimalism created space for genuine reflection rather than reactive absorption. Instead of filling every quiet moment with scrolling, I allowed silence and stillness to exist. In that space, my natural cognitive processes could resume their work of processing, integrating, and making sense of experiences.
2. Seeking Wisdom from Experienced Minds.
While reducing digital input helped clear mental clutter, I still needed guidance navigating the complex emotional and practical challenges I faced. The solution came through intentional conversations with people possessing greater experience, knowledge, and perspective than myself.
Simply disconnecting from devices creates a vacuum that must be filled with something healthier than isolation. Human connection, particularly with individuals who've weathered similar storms and emerged with wisdom, provides exactly what the fresh mind needs during recovery context, perspective, and seasoned judgment.
I reached out to former teachers who had guided me during earlier phases of life. These mentors brought decades of experience navigating Bangladesh's complex social and political landscape. Their historical perspective helped me understand current events as part of larger patterns rather than unprecedented catastrophes.
I also connected with senior colleagues and community members whose judgment I respected. These conversations weren't about seeking validation for predetermined conclusions or finding people who would simply agree with my anxieties. Instead, I sought individuals who could challenge my assumptions, broaden my perspective, and help me see pathways forward that my limited viewpoint had obscured.
The impact of these conversations exceeded my expectations. Each discussion felt like pulling myself further out of a mental bottleneck where my thinking had become stuck in repetitive, unproductive loops. Experienced voices provided frameworks for understanding chaos, strategies for maintaining equilibrium during uncertainty, and reassurance that what felt overwhelming to me represented navigable territory to those who'd walked similar paths.
These dialogues reminded me that I wasn't alone in my struggles. Others had faced comparable challenges and survived, not just survived, but emerged stronger and wiser. Their existence proved that the seemingly impossible task of mental recovery was not only possible but probable with appropriate support and perspective.
3. The Transformative Power of Solitude.
We live in a profoundly social species, instinctively seeking support, validation, and comfort from others during difficult times. This impulse toward connection serves us well in many circumstances, but it can also prevent us from accessing our most powerful resource for healing, ourselves.
How often do we truly sit alone with our thoughts, not as punishment or isolation but as intentional practice? How frequently do we create space for genuine self-dialogue rather than constantly filling silence with external voices and distractions?
I discovered that while others could provide valuable perspective, only I could do the deep internal work required for authentic mental cleansing. No external voice, regardless of wisdom or compassion, could reach the innermost chambers of my consciousness where real transformation needed to occur.
I began deliberately scheduling time for complete solitude in carefully chosen environments. I sought locations offering peace without disturbance, sometimes a quiet corner of my home, other times a secluded outdoor space where nature provided gentle background presence without demanding attention.
In these moments of intentional aloneness, I engaged in structured self-dialogue. I asked myself direct questions about my fears, my responses to recent events, my values, and my path forward. I gave myself permission to answer honestly without performing for any audience, even an imaginary one.
This practice of talking to myself initially felt awkward and somewhat absurd. Our culture doesn't generally celebrate self-conversation as valuable practice. But I persisted, and the benefits became undeniable. Speaking thoughts aloud forced clarity that internal rumination never achieved. Hearing my own voice articulate concerns and commitments made them tangible in ways that silent contemplation couldn't match.
These solitary sessions became cleansing rituals for my mind. Like washing physical grime from skin, I could identify and release mental contamination, toxic thoughts, irrational fears, limiting beliefs, and distorted perceptions that had accumulated during the crisis. Each session left me feeling lighter, clearer, and more centered.
I've practiced this throughout various challenging periods in my life, and it consistently delivers remarkable results. The technique costs nothing, requires no special equipment or location, and produces benefits that compound over time. If you're struggling with mental fog or emotional overwhelm, I genuinely encourage experimenting with this practice.
4. Breaking Patterns Through Novel Experiences.
This final strategy might initially sound counterintuitive or even frivolous when applied to serious mental health recovery. However, engaging in completely new activities proved extraordinarily powerful for disrupting problematic thought patterns and catalyzing mental renewal.
When we're stuck in mental ruts, whether from crisis, trauma, or simply repetitive stress, our brains operate in fixed, narrow channels. Thoughts circle endlessly through the same territories, encountering the same obstacles, and reaching the same dead ends. This cognitive imprisonment prevents progress regardless of how much effort we invest in trying to "think our way out."
The solution isn't more intense thinking within the same framework but rather disrupting the framework entirely through novel experience. When you introduce your brain to activities it has never encountered before, something remarkable happens neurologically.
New experiences trigger dopamine release, the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, motivation, and learning. This biochemical response doesn't just feel good, it fundamentally alters brain function in ways that facilitate mental flexibility and creativity. Your mind shifts from rigid repetition into exploratory mode, becoming more adaptable and open to new possibilities.
Additionally, when engaging unfamiliar activities, your brain must access and synthesize existing knowledge in novel combinations. You cannot simply apply memorized responses to unprecedented situations. Instead, your cognitive systems must improvise, experiment, and generate fresh approaches drawn from your entire experiential database.
This process effectively interrupts the obsessive thought loops that characterize mental distress. Your old worries and ruminations get pushed to the background as your cognitive resources redirect toward mastering new challenges. The mental space previously occupied by anxiety becomes filled with engagement, learning, and the satisfaction of developing new competencies.
I deliberately sought activities outside my normal repertoire. I tried cooking elaborate dishes I'd never attempted. I explored artistic expression through media I'd never touched. I learned about subjects completely unrelated to my professional expertise. Each new engagement provided temporary respite from my mental struggles while simultaneously building new neural pathways that increased my overall cognitive flexibility.
The magic wasn't just in distraction, though healthy distraction certainly helped, but in genuine expansion of my mental capabilities and comfort zones. Each small victory in unfamiliar territory reminded me that I possessed capacities beyond what my recent struggles had suggested. I could learn, grow, adapt, and succeed even when starting from zero knowledge or skill.
The Ongoing Journey Toward Mental Wellness.
The four practices I've shared represent just the beginning of what could become an extensive discussion about mental cleansing and thought process refinement. Numerous other approaches, techniques, and perspectives deserve exploration for anyone serious about cultivating and maintaining a fresh mind amid life's inevitable challenges.
I've deliberately kept this sharing focused and digestible rather than comprehensive. Information overload, even about mental health, can become counterproductive. Sometimes less is genuinely more, particularly when dealing with minds already stretched thin by stress and uncertainty.
Consider these strategies as starting points rather than complete solutions. Mental health work resembles physical fitness more than medical treatment, it requires ongoing practice rather than one-time fixes. The approaches that serve you best will likely differ somewhat from what worked for me, but the underlying principles remain universally applicable.
Looking Forward With Renewed Perspective.
My commitment extends beyond this single sharing. I plan to continue documenting my experiences, observations, and lessons learned as life unfolds with all its complexity. The struggles, victories, losses, and growth that constitute authentic human existence deserve honest articulation, not sanitized presentation.
We all face battles others never see. We all carry burdens that don't show in photographs. We all experience defeats that test our resilience and victories that restore our faith. Sharing these realities creates connection, reduces isolation, and reminds us that the struggles feeling uniquely ours actually represent common human experiences.
For today, I offer these reflections as one person's testimony about finding pathways back to mental clarity after a period of profound disruption. May you find value, encouragement, or at least companionship in knowing someone else has walked similar terrain and emerged intact.
Until we connect again through future writings, I wish you genuine peace, authentic joy, and the courage to actively cultivate the fresh mind that makes both possible. Take care of yourself, especially the parts of yourself that nobody else can see or reach. Live fully, love deeply, and remember that even the darkest periods eventually yield to light.
Your mental wellness matters. Your recovery journey matters. You matter.
Keep moving forward, one intentional step at a time.
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