Are You Pacing the Cage? - BONUS EPISODE
And hello to you, and welcome to today's Little Friday top up episode, to give you a boost and maybe a nudge to reflect on something a bit different. Because this week I want to offer you a question, not advice, not even a fully formed idea, really. Just a question to sit with. And it's this.
Are you pacing the cage?
Strange question I know, but bear with me. If you've ever been to a zoo, you might have seen the pacing in the cage, an animal walking the same path over and over, maybe walking round the back of a rock, past the fence, back to the rock again, back to the fence again. Doing the same route, keeping the same rhythm over and over again.
And it's not exercise and it's not curiosity, it's distress.
And it's even got a name, actually. It's often called Zoochosis, a kind of mental illness that animals develop when they're held in unnatural environments. Even if they're warm, even if they're fed. Something deep inside still knows this isn't right.
When I stumbled across that phrase, it got me thinking, what if some of us are doing the same? Not literally, maybe. Most of us aren't walking in circles in the living room. Not quite. Some of you might be sorry about that, but are we scrolling endlessly? Are we swapping one browser tab for another or just going through the same motions day in, day out and wondering why we feel numb?
'cause it's not just animals who suffer when they're removed from their natural environment. Humans do too. And the modern world with its 24 7 everything. It's inboxes and deadlines and never ending distractions might be keeping us alive, but is it letting us live? That's the idea I dove into a couple of weeks ago, on one of my Monday episodes on Patreon, I was talking about how modern life, despite all its perks and comforts, might actually be a bit of a psychological zoo for a lot of us, especially when we don't stop to question it.
And more importantly, I was talking about what we can do about it. Because the thing is, even though you might feel it sometimes, you are not failing, if you're struggling. You are not broken, if you are tired or restless or low, you're probably just responding very naturally to a very unnatural world, and maybe what you need isn't more hustle or more gadgets or another productivity hack.
Maybe you just need space, stillness, connection maybe. Time to be a human again, and not just a worker or a parent, or a consumer, a human.
Do look me up on Patreon to hear a bit more about this. They've got a seven day free trial after all, but for now, maybe just hold that question with you today.
Are you pacing the cage?
And if the answer is yes, even just a little bit. What small thing could you do to remind your nervous system that you are not trapped? Could you step outside even for just a minute? Breathe in some air. Let your eyes see something that isn't just a screen. Can you turn off the radio in the car and sit in silence for a bit?
Could you reach out to someone, even if it's a bit awkward just to say hello? Just to remind yourself that you are not alone. These tiny things, they add up. They help us to come back to ourselves. Because no matter how polished and productive we try to be, at the end of the day, we're still biological beings.
We're all humans, at least I think you are anyway. And humans, all of us have needs with rhythms and limits. And ignoring them? That's what starts the pacing. So give yourself permission to stop even just for today. The world can wait five minutes, maybe you've waited long enough. So take care of yourself this weekend, and I'll see you on Monday on Patreon if you like.
Not sure what the episode is gonna be about, but there's hundreds of other episodes already on there to keep you going, including the one from the other week where I went a bit deeper into what I'm calling this human version of Zoochosis and how to gently start escaping the cage. Until then, be kind to yourself and remember, you were made for more than just surviving.
You were made to thrive. Have a great weekend. I'll speak to you soon. Take care.
Are you pacing the cage?
Strange question I know, but bear with me. If you've ever been to a zoo, you might have seen the pacing in the cage, an animal walking the same path over and over, maybe walking round the back of a rock, past the fence, back to the rock again, back to the fence again. Doing the same route, keeping the same rhythm over and over again.
And it's not exercise and it's not curiosity, it's distress.
And it's even got a name, actually. It's often called Zoochosis, a kind of mental illness that animals develop when they're held in unnatural environments. Even if they're warm, even if they're fed. Something deep inside still knows this isn't right.
When I stumbled across that phrase, it got me thinking, what if some of us are doing the same? Not literally, maybe. Most of us aren't walking in circles in the living room. Not quite. Some of you might be sorry about that, but are we scrolling endlessly? Are we swapping one browser tab for another or just going through the same motions day in, day out and wondering why we feel numb?
'cause it's not just animals who suffer when they're removed from their natural environment. Humans do too. And the modern world with its 24 7 everything. It's inboxes and deadlines and never ending distractions might be keeping us alive, but is it letting us live? That's the idea I dove into a couple of weeks ago, on one of my Monday episodes on Patreon, I was talking about how modern life, despite all its perks and comforts, might actually be a bit of a psychological zoo for a lot of us, especially when we don't stop to question it.
And more importantly, I was talking about what we can do about it. Because the thing is, even though you might feel it sometimes, you are not failing, if you're struggling. You are not broken, if you are tired or restless or low, you're probably just responding very naturally to a very unnatural world, and maybe what you need isn't more hustle or more gadgets or another productivity hack.
Maybe you just need space, stillness, connection maybe. Time to be a human again, and not just a worker or a parent, or a consumer, a human.
Do look me up on Patreon to hear a bit more about this. They've got a seven day free trial after all, but for now, maybe just hold that question with you today.
Are you pacing the cage?
And if the answer is yes, even just a little bit. What small thing could you do to remind your nervous system that you are not trapped? Could you step outside even for just a minute? Breathe in some air. Let your eyes see something that isn't just a screen. Can you turn off the radio in the car and sit in silence for a bit?
Could you reach out to someone, even if it's a bit awkward just to say hello? Just to remind yourself that you are not alone. These tiny things, they add up. They help us to come back to ourselves. Because no matter how polished and productive we try to be, at the end of the day, we're still biological beings.
We're all humans, at least I think you are anyway. And humans, all of us have needs with rhythms and limits. And ignoring them? That's what starts the pacing. So give yourself permission to stop even just for today. The world can wait five minutes, maybe you've waited long enough. So take care of yourself this weekend, and I'll see you on Monday on Patreon if you like.
Not sure what the episode is gonna be about, but there's hundreds of other episodes already on there to keep you going, including the one from the other week where I went a bit deeper into what I'm calling this human version of Zoochosis and how to gently start escaping the cage. Until then, be kind to yourself and remember, you were made for more than just surviving.
You were made to thrive. Have a great weekend. I'll speak to you soon. Take care.