by Patricia Bradley, @PTBradley1

I don’t know about you, but for the past year, I’ve struggled to focus, whether it’s going to the grocery store, making a meal, watching a movie, or writing. My brain struggles to keep up. I feel tired all the time, even after a good night’s sleep. 

When I researched why I feel so tired and have brain fog, I came up with this from The Crossroads Journal: we’re wired for two kinds of thinking—fast and slow thinking. Our brain – like our muscles – requires a sugar called glucose to operate, and slow thinking requires more sugar than fast thinking. Either way, when the sugar is gone—we have brain fog.

Slow Thinking vs Fast Thinking:

Slow thinking is what you do in all-day meetings and conferences, or when you do your taxes—you concentrate hard and at the end of the day you are drained. Your brain is calling for a break. You’ve used up all the sugar and your blood vessels need time to deliver more.

Fast thinking is what you do routinely—things you do so often, you do them almost on autopilot. Fast thinking draws on past experiences and quickly makes a decision and moves on to the next problem. An example is driving to a familiar place near you. Your fast brain anticipates each move and you drive almost automatically. This type of thinking doesn’t require much sugar.

But put you in an unfamiliar location and your slow brain takes over, watching the directions, paying close attention to every detail. Have you ever been driving to a new location and got lost? Remember how frustrated you felt. Irritable. Close to tears. (for women, anyway) That was your slow brain in overdrive.

So What Does This Have to Do With Anything?

Everything. We are doing a lot more slow thinking these days, using up our energy. Picture this: you get dressed for church, walk inside the sanctuary, meet a friend and if you’re a woman, the two of you hug; if you’re a man, you shake hands. You don’t think anything about it. It was the natural thing to do.

That was pre-Covid. For the past year, everything has turned upside down. We have to rethink everything—Did I call and make reservations because the church is at 25% capacity? Or have they raised it to 50%? Where’s my mask? Am I getting too close to the next person in line? How about the cans at the grocery store? Wash or just wipe off? Did I wash my hands? I wash them again, just in case. Eat out? Where? Everything’s closed. 

Whew…

It’s like moving to a foreign country and learning the language and customs. And that takes a lot of brain energy. So much so, there’s not much left over for other, important things like… writing. Maybe that critical editor is sitting on your shoulder whispering in your ear that it’s not worth it. 

If he is, knock him off! Don’t listen. Understand we have been and still are going through a hard time. Cut yourself some slack. Rest more. Eat well. Get exercise. Zoom with friends. Make connections. 

This too will pass. It always does.

 

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Obsession

Natchez Trace Ranger and historian Emma Winters hoped never to see Sam Ryker again after she broke off her engagement to him. But when shots are fired at her at a historical landmark just off the Natchez Trace, she’s forced to work alongside Sam as the Natchez Trace law enforcement district ranger in the ensuing investigation. To complicate matters, Emma has acquired a delusional secret admirer who is determined to have her as his own. Sam is merely an obstruction, one which must be removed.

Sam knows that he has failed Emma in the past and he doesn’t intend to let her down again. Especially since her life is on the line. As the threads of the investigation cross and tangle with their own personal history, Sam and Emma have a chance to discover the truth, not only about the victim but about what went wrong in their relationship.

Award-winning author Patricia Bradley will have the hairs standing up on the back of your neck with this nail-biting tale of obsession, misunderstanding, and forgiveness.

Patricia Bradley is a Carol finalist and winner of an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in Suspense, and three anthologies that included her stories debuted on the USA Today Best Seller List. She and her two cats call Northeast Mississippi home–the South is also where she sets most of her books. Her romantic suspense novels include the Logan Point series and the Memphis Cold Case Novels. Obsession, the second book in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series, released Februrary 2, 2021. She is now hard at work on the third book, Crosshairs.

Writing workshops include American Christian Fiction Writers online courses, workshops at the Mid-South Christian Writer’s Conference, the KenTen Retreat where she was also the keynote, Memphis American Christian Fiction Writer group, and the Bartlett Christian Writers group. When she has time, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.