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  "description": "The meaning-making mind can get a bit out of hand and wall you off from life 🧱",
  "path": "/laying-bricks/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-28T06:00:55.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gilespcroft.com",
  "tags": [
    "genuinely trying to help",
    "happening Now",
    "Email expectationsThe one about how junk mail actually improved things, for once! 📨The Daily RemindersGiles P Croft"
  ],
  "textContent": "One thing that minds like to do (a lot) is find meaning. _Everything_ has to have a meaning, or a reason, to a mind.\n\n**_Everything!_**\n\nThis makes sense in the outside-in world of an Ego Construct 📦 where—from its perspective—it’s in control of everything, solving problems and managing how you feel.\n\nTo a mind, it _really_ looks like circumstances are the cause of our feelings. Therefore it’s utterly logical that it should figure out _which_ of those circumstances are ‘making you’ feel a particular way, so that it can try and do something about it.\n\nHence: meaning-making. All the time.\n\n(I’ve said, many a time before – thought is not the enemy, it’s genuinely trying to help!)\n\n* * *\n\nIt came up with a client recently. They’d experienced a low-feeling mood that dissipated, leaving behind a much better-feeling mood.\n\nAnd their mind was _so_ earnest in trying make something of it. Was it because of this thing? Or maybe that one? I suppose the reason could have been _that_ situation. Hmmm, although maybe it was… etc.\n\nNone of this is a problem _per se_ , until we start taking _any_ of it even remotely seriously.\n\n## Bricklayer mode activated\n\nIt’s like each one of those reasons the mind can come up with is like laying a brick. It’s solid. It’s a thing. It’s stable. And if we take it seriously, it _looks_ true.\n\nTrue enough to build on.\n\nAny boy, do minds ever like to build on stuff!! It’s like Bob the Builder’s been let loose in there and wants to construct an elaborate set of rules that will ensure we’re more in control of things like this in the future.\n\n  * Down goes a brick: _Oh yeah, it’s probably that, isn’t it! 🧱_\n  * Down goes another brick:_Well, if it was that, then that means… 🧱_\n  * Down goes another brick: _And of course, in that case, the thing to do would be to…_ 🧱\n  * Down goes another brick… 🧱 and another… 🧱 and another… 🧱\n\n\n\n…until we’ve innocently walled ourselves off from life behind a towering construction of thought-‘logic’ that’s all completely made up and has no actual use (other than to wall us off from life, that’s happening Now).\n\n🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱\n🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱\n🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱\n🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱😞🧱🧱 🧱🧱🧱🧱\n\nMuch easier to spot the mind laying bricks sooner rather than later, put the trowel down and get on with living.\n\n💟\n\nGiles\n\nSIGN UP FOR THE DAILY REMINDERS newsletter\n\nWant to start __every__ day with helpful, insightful content like this? The Daily Reminder is a quick, lighthearted email that arrives in your inbox every morning, to help keep you grounded in reality, so that you get to __‘Think less, and live more.’__\n\n __“They feel like a moment of stillness in a world of madness.” ~__ Neil, UK\n\n __“One of those small things with big impact. Honestly, just sign up!”__ ~ Paula, UK\n\nGET YOURS NOW\n\n### Related\n\nEmail expectationsThe one about how junk mail actually improved things, for once! 📨The Daily RemindersGiles P Croft\n\nHere’s me, getting caught out by the very same thing",
  "title": "Laying bricks",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-28T06:00:55.681Z"
}