This entry was written on the lands of the CHamoru people.
To think about thinking is known as metacognition–it’s this action of trying to recognize and understand one’s thoughts. I like to think of it as reflecting upon how I came about my choices and ideas and actions. Additionally, my best friend explained to me that teachers would use metacognitive practices for learning in classrooms, and the search engine suggests that this helps with comprehension, reasoning and problem-solving. So, there must be some benefits to meta-thoughts.
Sometimes thinking about thinking could be exhausting because it isn’t something that gives a concrete answer, but more so lays the foundation for more questions, like “why?” And you get this cycle of possible answers and more questions, but not in a way that the thought circles to the question– so something more along the line of a spiral, where there is a continuous conversation of what is.
When I was younger, my teachers would punish me for ‘overthinking,’ with snarky comments, and I often wondered what I was doing wrong.
I promised myself that I wouldn’t let my thoughts distract me from being my best self and to love the way my mind thinks and wonders and questions and dreams and cares and loves.
I know that I work best in an environment that promotes growth and encourages questions,
because I thought about it.
