Monkey Mind

 by Kait Carson

Mind monkey or monkey mind, from Chinese xinyuan and Sino-Japanese shin’en 心猿 [lit. “heart-/mind-monkey”], is a Buddhist term meaning “unsettled; restless; capricious; whimsical; fanciful; inconstant; confused; indecisive; uncontrollable”. Wikipedia.

That’s the official definition of monkey mind—well, official if you buy Wikipedia’s definition. I’d first encountered the term in a meditation class. Which probably explains the Buddhist roots. The simpler definition—Oh, look! Something shiny. Or, as one of my bosses used to say when he zoned out, “Sorry, I saw a squirrel.” Yes, we can all relate. There’s nothing more enticing than the ‘next thing’.

So how does monkey mind figure into writing? Writers literally sweat words and it’s not a pretty sight. We write, delete, write, edit, write, curse, write, cry. In the old days, a small mountain of crumpled paper grew alongside our chairs. These days, we create a tree of sub files on our computers with various titles of despair. Inevitably, our monkey mind sees opportunity. It takes over, and it’s not always a bad thing.

We start out writing a dark and stormy night (not really, I hope), but our monkey mind jumps to a scene in broad daylight. There’s a man standing on a cliff, gazing at a raging storm-tossed sea below him. While we’re figuring out that scene, the monkey leaps to a hand thrusting out of wild waves, grasping desperately at nothing. Then a pale, pinched face breaks through the froth, the mouth visible as it gasps for air before sinking again. The man on the cliff laughs and turns away. So much for the dark and stormy night I’d originally conceived.

Monkey mind often takes my stories in different directions than I intend. It never gives me complete scenes, just little itchy brain bits with tantalizing hints of complications. The monkey has a mischievous side. It’s just as likely to lead me into a rabbit hole as it is to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Whenever I’m stuck, I can count on my monkey mind to kick in and demonstrate the answer to the question, “What’s the worst thing that could happen here?” We make a good team. My monkey and me.

Do you have a monkey mind? How do you feel about it? How do you control it? Do you even try?

Kait Carson writes the Hayden Kent Mysteries set in the Fabulous Florida Keys and is at work on a new mystery set in her adopted state of Maine. Her short fiction has been nationally published in the Trues and Woman’s World magazines. Her short story, Gutted, Filleted, and Fried, appeared in the Falchion Finalist nominated Seventh Guppy Anthology Hook, Line, and Sinker. She is a former President of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime, a member of Sisters in Crime and Guppies. Visit her website at www.kaitcarson.com. While you’re there, sign up for her newsletter and receive a yummy, authentic, key lime pie recipe.