Pondering, mulling.

Obviously I am an addicted ponderer. It is the beating heart of this blog and for me is both creative and endlessly fascinating.

Mulling on the other hand is a much less lightweight, pleasurable task. Mulling however is every bit as essential for me.

The two thinking techniques are closely related. I have always been a ponderer, I started young, in Reference Libraries. As I edged into adulthood, worries and problems could not always  be pondered into a solution. Sometimes more serious and better targeted thinking is required. Mulling moved into my life.

Recently, away from this blog I have had to do a lot of mulling on the behalf of an organisation that I help to manage.

All organisations, whatever their title are essentially about people.  My recent mullings have taken me to places I never imagined I would need to explore. Despite the importance of mulling it uses much the same mental muscles as pondering. And for me the creative, familiar places where I choose to ponder have proved to be equally suitable for mulling.

1.Dull domestic tasks.

2.Dog walks

3. Yardening in the yard.

Just one stark difference between pondering and mulling.

Pondering rarely keeps me awake at night.