Woolgathering is an oblique frame of mind in which one moves from thought to thought without a sense of purpose or attachment to any outcome. The thoughts of a woolgatherer are small in scale, and thus easy to let go of, inconsequential if they are lost.
The term comes from the old practice of gathering small bits of loose wool, hanging from hedges and fences, which had become detached from the coats of sheep wandering by. The work required no strategic planning or analytical consideration, and so came to represent the kind of unfocused consciousness that accompanies routine tasks.
Woolgathering is similar to, but distinct from, daydreaming in that people who are interrupted while woolgathering are likely to have no idea what they were thinking about the moment before. Daydreamers, however, are likely to blush if asked what they were thinking about, as their consciousness was more actively engaged, albeit in a fantastical direction. Daydreamers know where they’re headed in their fantasies, whereas woolgatherers are lost in a fog of mental detachment from reality.
