I love searching the web and finding new things, especially from my favorite blogs! It’s something I may do a few times throughout the day for 2-3 minutes when my back pain gets really bad, and it helps me regain my focus. For me, this is part of a Distraction Technique taught at the PRC.
Distraction: A technique that can be used to refocus you mind from the pain (or frustration) to allow your mind and body to relax and become calm. Often, when we are hurting, we can get really wrapped up in how bad the pain is, and how much we want to go home, or outside, or anywhere but where we are right now! Anything to make the pain go away. And focusing on this pain can in turn make us breathe more shallow, hold ourselves more stiffly, and increase our overall agitation. If you are trying to slog through a task at work that makes you want to beat your head into the keyboard… that agitation can grow tenfold.
By distracting ourselves with something we enjoy, we can break that cycle, and give ourselves the ability to (try) to take control of the situation and approach the task at hand with fresh eyes, even if it is something as mundane as scrubbing the bathroom or getting through the next hour.
This concept isn’t just a thing for people with chronic pain. Countless articles have written about the benefits of allowing employees to view personal sites, email, or even Facebook during the workday for short periods of time as it helps prevent mental fatigue and leads to greater productivity overall! Tell that to your employer next time you get caught shopping online for shoes…
Useless Fun Facts
I have always considered myself to be a vault of useless information, and can be quite a bit of an information hoarder (Input is my #2 strength in the Strengths Finder 2.0). I love finding a new t-shirt, a recipe, a new artist, and somehow, I have found myself finding a lot of cat themed items. Now, I am 100% of a dog person, but my friend Sarah is a wonderful crazy cat lady and I often share my cat crazed finds with her.
You GUYS! …Cats!
And you might not believe me, but cats kind of rule the internet… there’s a lot out there. And without realizing it, I was sharing something with her at least twice a week. It dawned on me, I have stumbled upon an unintentional hobby. What, might you ask, is an unintentional hobby?
Unintentional Hobby – Noun.
- An activity done regularly in one’s leisure time that they were not initially aware of. Similar to a habit, which is simply a routine that goes unnoticed, but one that that brings joy.
- A hobby one simply stumbles upon and continues without making the conscious decision to do so.
Not that this is actually a term, but the thought of an unintentional hobby really intrigued me. Have you ever realized that you have one? Perhaps it is a collection of antique rings that you find you have started to collect, or that you always have interesting scents lotions to use at your desk?
As for my hobby, here are some of the recent cat finds I had sent to Sarah in the past few weeks:
This Ms. Cat illustration
This sweater from Culture Flock Clothing
And one for dog lovers!
This crazy cat lady t-shirt
This shark cat bed
This Mew-tiful dress!
Hi! I'm Alyce. 
