For the past twelve years I've been at school. Sometimes homeschool and sometimes 'regular' school, but still at school. Being at school provided challenges: geometry riders, science pracs, literature essays or even just trying to balance all my extramural activities. Those challenges were good for me, even though I didn't always appreciate them at the time. I think I largely avoided a hatred of geometry through sheer willpower, for example.
Lately, though, I've found myself searching out geometry questions and posing puzzles for myself. The sort of computer game that used to frustrate me has newfound appeal. Anything that makes me think analytically seems like a good thing. My brain, it appears, is not a fan of sitting around doing nothing. Maybe that's not surprising, since the rest of me isn't either.
Writing, beta-reading/editing and arty reviews stretch my brain in one direction, but I don't think it's enough. I crave logic puzzles - like the ones I found at Question of the Day. Like geometry riders. Like tangrams. My brain needs to work analytically as well as artistically. I think I've always read enough to satisfy my need for artistic stimulation. When I do a lot of writing or reviewing, I find that my need to read decreases. I've never struggled to find analytical stimulation, because school provided me with everything I needed. Now that school is absent, if only for a year, my need for that stimulation is evident.
I guess that's the point of a gap year: to learn more about myself. It's good to figure out more and more of how my brain works. For now, though, I'm off to play Tetravex.
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