Planning for wellbeing

One might bring to question the construct of this statement. The question of if and how we can plan for wellbeing is one for various philosophical debate. Is wellbieng something that can be planned? Is it that planning erodes capacity for a playful imagination, for our neurons to expand into the unknown? Planning, itself creates a structure, which, when building a home or a town, is incredibly useful but when it comes to creativity, over planning, stifles individual capacity to meet the needs of an ever changing environment.

Let me provide an example here, one that we are all familiar with; a shopping list. There will be two main trains of thought here, one, that a list enables one to stop thinking about what might be needed, it helps us to remember not to forget. The second train of thought is that a list actually detracts our memory from creating the pathways between the connections that allow us to remember in the first place.

It is not that we have a limited capacity to remember information, but it is our ability to work through the process that enables an agility within our recollected and projected thought. Let me work through the scenario. You find yourself at a store, you have a list, what do you do? Do you browse or do you just go for all the items on the list, ticking them off as you go, taking the shortest route in the store to collect the items and then leave. Or, if you have a list, do you venture around the store, collecting items as you go, when you’ve finished, you check the list to ensure that you have all the items required, then you leave.

Ok, so, same store, this time no list. Do you venture around the store collecting items as you go, while thinking what you might need these items for, do you remember the conversation about the item that you thought you needed, as you thought about it or talked about it, do you look at items and consider if and why you might need them, what you might use them for or if you already have them?

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