Chestnut Bud
No. 7Making the same mistake again, not learning from experience
7 remedies
Not fully here
For when your attention is somewhere other than the present, whether that is the past, a daydream, or the same thought on a loop.
Bach called this group insufficient interest in present circumstances, which is accurate but does not sound like anything anyone would say. The simpler version is that you are not fully here.
Attention can drift in several directions. Backwards, into memories and homesickness. Forwards or sideways, into daydreams. Or nowhere at all, into a kind of resigned drifting where you have stopped expecting much from the day. Exhaustion can do it too, when there is genuinely nothing left in the tank.
The busiest version is the mind that will not stop. The same argument, the same worry, the same conversation going round at two in the morning. That is White Chestnut, and it is one of the most requested remedies in the whole system.
The 7 remedies in this group
Clematis
No. 9Daydreaming, drifting off, never quite present in the room
Honeysuckle
No. 16Living in the past, homesickness, and nostalgia for how things were
Mustard
No. 21Gloom that descends out of nowhere and lifts just as suddenly
Olive
No. 23Complete exhaustion after a long stretch of real effort
White Chestnut
No. 35Thoughts going round and round that you cannot switch off
Wild Rose
No. 37Resignation and apathy, drifting through a life you have stopped expecting much from
Which remedy for a wandering mind?
Seven remedies, and the question is where your attention goes when it leaves the present. Backwards, sideways, round in circles, or nowhere at all.
You keep making the same mistake
Chestnut Bud
You can see the pattern perfectly well afterwards, and walk straight into it again next time.
You drift off and miss what is happening
Clematis
Somewhere pleasanter, most of the time, and having to ask people to say it again.
Your attention keeps going backwards
Honeysuckle
Homesickness and nostalgia, measuring how things are now against how they used to be.
Gloom has descended for no reason
Mustard
It arrives like weather, with nothing to blame it on, and lifts just as suddenly.
You are worn out after a long stretch of effort
Olive
Earned exhaustion, after weeks of illness, caring, or work with no let up. There is nothing left in the tank.
The same thought goes round and round
White Chestnut
An argument or a worry replaying at two in the morning, with no off switch. The most requested remedy in the group.
You have stopped expecting much from any of it
Wild Rose
Not unhappy exactly. Resigned, going through the motions, and no longer minding either way.