Thoughts can pop up in the mind at a very random time. Some people say those thoughts have the most meaning. But there are many different types of thoughts that occur every day. Some of the thoughts that people might have more often can be shower/night time, intrusive, and overthinking. 

The most random thoughts can hit at any time. Shower and night thoughts are always the best, most meaningful thoughts. Caitlyn Soat ‘27 said she always gets the best thoughts late at night and comes up with funny jokes. “Why did Goofy hit Mickey with a snowball? Because Donald ducked,” she said. Some people experience shower or night time thoughts because they are letting their mind wander off, which tends to make the mind more creative. Before bed or in the shower is typically when people  let their mind wander off making them think of random things. 

Another type of thought is intrusive. People tend to get intrusive thoughts when they are very stressed or have anxiety. An example of an intrusive thought is when talking to someone and thinking  about punching them. Typical most intrusive thoughts are harmless. Kallan Kropp ‘26  said, “Every morning, I always have an intrusive thought about not going to school and going back to bed.” Some people can have the same intrusive thought that always manages to stay in the back of their mind. Lily Kern ‘25 stated, “An  intrusive thought that I think about often is dyeing my hair pitch black or cherry red but I never do it,” Every once in a while an intrusive thought will win and people will do things that they don’t mean to do. “One time I was mad at my sister and I wanted to throw something at her so I picked up a shampoo bottle and threw it at her,” said Avery Zigler ‘25.

One type of thought that most people have is overthinking. Overthinking happens when people start thinking about the littlest things and then they over fixate on it and can’t get it out of their mind. Overthinking happens during hard decisions or after a really hard day. Overthinking can be a symptom of anxiety and ADHD. Unrealistic expectations is one of the biggest causes of overthinking. “I usually always overthink after I take a really hard test and I can’t relax until I see the grade in the grade book,” said Cameron Einsweiler ‘26. 

Many different thoughts can pass through the mind during the day. Thoughts shape people’s influence over their actions. Learning to understand thought will help people understand their emotions that they are having and why they are having certain thoughts. One of the most important things is to relax and let your mind wander and not to think about sometimes stress or doing something that you might regret later.