Most people I know need some kind of creative outlet. They write fiction, take photos, make scrapbooks, sing, dance, and the list goes on. Which got me thinking about a peculiar phenomenon I noticed. Creativity in one area can sometimes sap our creative activity for another area. For example, several years ago I knew several scrapbookers. They were very talented, and I loved their creations. But they found that when they spent time scrapbooking, it left little creativity behind for their writing. Which of course, got me thinking. Is it truly that there was no creativity left? Is it that they only had so much energy and time to spare? Is it that their brain needed an outlet, and once achieved went to sleep? I don't know the answer for sure. But I do know that when I'm in the thick of things, and writing my heart out, I don't have the time or desire to spend putting together photo albums. I have to put all my creative juice into my writing. What about you? How does your creativity work?
Okay, raise your hand if you can successfully meditate for more than 10 minutes at a time? If you're like me, your hand is down in your lap and you're currently glancing awkwardly around the room. Meditation and I are not friends in the strictest meaning of the word. Don't get me wrong, I've tried. I've tried so many times I should get a gold star for effort. I've taken meditation classes, yoga classes, I've listened to CDs and videos online.
I sometimes feel I've tried it all, and failed.
And as you all know, I don't take failure lightly.
But while taking with my good friend The Happy Writer, I realized something (as I often do after talking with friends). I realized that I actually do meditate, in my own way. It's just that others may not see it as meditation. I meditate by getting out of my own head. I go for a swim, or a walk, or a bike ride. I put on my headphones and I just move. I listen to the music instead of my own thoughts, and when those thoughts intrude, I take them in, then move on. I don't dwell in them, but let them flit in and out.
Most important, I find that when I come home, I'm ready to face whatever it is I need to face. I'm ready to write, or deal with work. I can think more clearly.
So for those of you who find traditional meditation too difficult, give it a try. Let me know what you think.
But how many of us do it? Take a break that is. I've read several articles recently reminding people to get up from the computer at least once an hour for several minutes. Get up. Move around. Look at something other than a computer screen. Now, if you're anything like me, you get up and you may not sit back down for another hour as you become engrossed in various other timewasters (ie. housework). For a long time I felt badly about this. I thought I was being unproductive. Recently however, I began to realize that those aren't the timewasters I thought they were. In fact, what they are is the mental, physical, and visual break my poor body needs.
Challenge time! I challenge you to take a 5 min. mini-break every hour. You can walk around, you can read a magazine (stay away from the books, or your break will likely become two hours of wasted time), dance to some music, load the dishwasher, make some tea...anything! Just remember to sit back down when you're done.
I'm back from RWA's National Conference, and finally caught up on all mail, cleaning, and email. It's amazing how much that piles up when you're not looking. I hope you all had a good time, and that those who couldn't go this year got together with other writer friends and still had a good time. It's so important to have that time with like-minded individuals. It's easy, in the days of email and internet to forget how important actual face-time is. This is true in any industry, but especially in the writing world. We are a solitary industry. We sit in front of our computers and we type away. We might call up a friend to moan or complain. We might get online and vent our frustration at how long this process can take sometimes. But face-time is so very important. I have a group of ladies I meet with at least once a month, without fail. If one of us has a conflict we do everything we can to reschedule. If rescheduling is impossible, we'll sometimes make a second meeting just so we can get together. At Conference I met up with a girlfriend who I haven't seen in almost 6 years (seriously, Karina, that's too long). It was like no time had passed us by. These face to face meetings recharge me. They energize and feed my soul in a way that email and facebook simply can't. So what about you? How do you get your face-time in?
I do this exercise with one of the free cable machines when I'm at the gym, and with (very) light hand weights at home. When you're setting the machine up, you want your arms to create a wide V. Make sure that while you are doing this exercise that you are shoulders are down, and that you are squeezing your shoulder blades together. Think about it like you have a tennis ball that you are trying to hold between your shoulders. The motion is a simple one. Start with your arms wide, palms facing away from you. When you're ready, pull down and in, rotating your hands so that they face in. Start with two sets of 10.
For all my friends attending RWA's National Conference in the next few weeks, here are a couple of tips for staying sane (at the conference and in NY).
-Accept that you won't get enough sleep. Consider a power nap before lunch.
-Eat breakfast. Pick up some granola bars or yogurt to keep in your room. Breakfast will give you the energy boost you need to get through those early morning workshops.
-Bring your walking shoes. The hotel isn't that far from Central Park. If you find yourself getting overwhelmed by everyone and everything, take a walk!
-Keep snacks on hand. Nothing ruins a day faster than a blood sugar dip.
And my most important tip? Have fun. Most of us writers like to keep to ourselves. Let's be honest, we don't get out much. This is your chance to step outside your box.
I know sometimes it's so hard to pull yourself off the couch. You're tired. You've got laundry to fold, writing to do, a bathroom to clean, papers to grade...the work never ends. Sometimes the last thing you want to do is get home from work and go back out.
But sometimes you have to. Our bodies need Vitamin D. It helps us sleep better, feel better, look better. You can have all the work in the world, but it's worth it to take those 15 min. (or if you can spare it, 30 min.) to get outside in the sunshine. Now, maybe it's because I live in the Pacific NW, but I don't know many people that aren't made happier by a sunny day. The benefits compound themselves. For example, you go out to get some sun, it puts you in a better mood so you go for a short walk. The walk wakes you up and energizes you, which makes you extend that walk from a short one around the block to the walk down to the corner. Then you get home, and you're so energized you're just raring to go on that manuscript. You sit down and you crank out five new pages.
All because you let yourself enjoy the sunshine.
So go on, frolic. I dare you!
Okay, for this exercise you'll want an exercise band of fairly light resistance to start with. You can do this sitting or standing, though sitting is easier for getting started. This exercise will help to strengthen those shoulder muscles in the middle of your back. As you're doing this exercise, imagine squeezing a tennis ball between your shoulder blades.
Step 1: hold your arms out in front of you, a little wider than shoulder width. Hold the band on either end.
Step 2: Pull your arms (and the band) out toward your sides, squeezing your shoulder blades.
Step 3: Return to start (slowly), then repeat.
Do two sets of ten.
Ever since I did this stretch at the end of a yoga section, I've been calling it The Ballet Stretch because I feel like I'm doing a ballet move...only lying down.
This is a great stretch for at the end of a long day, especially if you've been hunched over the computer, as it stretches the muscles at the front of your chest. This is especially important because as you hunch forward and those muscles tighten, they will continue to pull your shoulders forward even after you've stepped away from the computer unless you stretch them regularly.
This stretch is to be done 10 times on each side. Start out lying on your left side, with your arms out at a 90 degree angle from the rest of your body, one on top of the other. The sweep the top arm upward trying to keep your hand connected with the ground as you come around in a circle.
I love how effective this stretch is. As writers we spend so much time sitting in front of our computers, or reading a book, we don't even think about what it does to our bodies. Hopefully this will help with that a little bit.
As writers we spend most of our time hunched over a computer. Or hunched over a book. Or hunched over our...well, you name it, we're probably hunched. I swear, it's a miracle most of us don't have a hump from sitting around the way we do.
So, what can you do to help it? Well, supposing you already have an ergonomic computer set up, the next best thing is stretching. Spending all that time hunched over means the muscles in your shoulders are probably getting weaker, while the muscles in your chest are way too tight. So, try this:
Stand in a doorway. Place your left hand against the door so that your arm forms a 90 degree angle. Step forward with one leg, gently pressing your chest past the door frame. You should feel a gentle pull across the left side of your chest. Now, switch sides and repeat with your right arm. Try doing this a few times a day. You'll be amazed at how good it feels.
I do this exercise with one of the free cable machines when I'm at the gym, and with (very) light hand weights at home. When you're setting the machine up, you want your arms to create a wide V. Make sure that while you are doing this exercise that you are shoulders are down, and that you are squeezing your shoulder blades together. Think about it like you have a tennis ball that you are trying to hold between your shoulders. The motion is a simple one. Start with your arms wide, palms facing away from you. When you're ready, pull down and in, rotating your hands so that they face in. Start with two sets of 10. 