Mindmaps - another rant

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Mindmaps really get my GOAT. AAARGH. I consider myself to be a visual thinker. Freewriting - well I'm not sure if it covers all the bases I need it to cover. I was trying to better understand where the connections are between my interest in embodied experience, learning, new technologies, art, games and play. HOWEVER these are not discrete interests - the whole point is that they're interconnected and I'm trying to get a better sense of how they come together in my head because I feel like there's a deep connection and once I've discovered it my whole approach to learning technology, learning and..well, all these subjects will feel less splintered, more directed. So I try the brain which seems to be one of the more sophisticated mindmapping tools out there and DAMMIT it just doesn't help. i just end up with an enormous, amorphous web. Come on. Is there ANYONE or ANYTHING OUT THERE that can help me unwravel the knots in my head?