February 4, 2013

Get Out of Your Head and Into the Moment

Sunday Soup & Biscuits

Baking and cooking are great ways to give your brain a rest and enjoy the present.

I’m an ideas person. I live in a world of options, movement, and possibility, with thoughts churning merrily most of my waking hours. I love it.

On the flip side, with so many thoughts flitting about, it’s easy for me to get comfortable in this cerebral space and remain “stuck in my head.” I get so excited and caught up in my projects that it’s sometimes hard for me to switch modes and experience the physical, present moment in front of me.

Sound familiar?

Sometimes our brain needs a rest, and our body and senses need to take center stage.

If you’re feeling uninspired or overwhelmed, or just a need to connect with the here & now, it may be time to make the switch.

These five simple activities have helped me get out of my head and connect to the present, physical world. They may be useful to you, too.

Move Your Body
Take a walk, stretch, or break out the tunes and dance. Hit the gym, take a yoga class, or dig up your garden. Find something that’s convenient, and works well for you.

Putter
I am a big fan of puttering. Tidy up the living room, put the clothes away, do the dishes. Go through the pile of papers on the table, file the obvious, sweep the floor. Meander in your physical space and see what small task calls you.

Make Something
Paint, cook, slice & dice. Sew, hammer, bake, sink your hands in the dirt. Draw, knit, or pull out the sander. Use your hands to work with textures, colors, and scents.

Touch Someone, or Another Living Being
Hold a loved one’s hand, pet the dog, feel the bark of a tree or the leaves of your favorite plant. Get a hug or, better yet, give a hug. Focus on your sense of touch and delight in the exchange of life energy.

Sit With Your Surroundings
Sit comfortably and straight, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Feel the surface beneath you: the floor beneath your feet, the chair on which you’re sitting. Feel the sensations on your skin, hear the sounds — near and far — and inhale and take in the scents. Become aware of your surroundings. Stay this way as long as you’d like; when you feel ready, wiggle your toes & fingers, and slowly open your eyes.

How do you make the switch from the cerebral world to the physical?

How do you get “out of your head” and into the present moment?

Filed Under: Plot Notes, The Setting Tagged With: , 4 Comments
January 24, 2013

Take Time to Remember

Sunny Side Up c. 1998 by Megan E. Evans / Butcher Paper, Newsprint, and Pastels

I’m in the process of moving. Yep, I’m packing up my life and putting it all in boxes. Dates and details are still up in the air as to where my husband and I will move, but we keep charging ahead with the preparation.

One unique and interesting gift about packing up, sorting through, reorganizing, and throwing out is that I keep running across memories.

Trinkets, papers, pictures — many old and recent memories. At first I thought it was just going to be overwhelming (and to be honest, it is at times). But it has also opened up a new aspect in my creative life that I haven’t addressed in a while: it has helped me remember.

I do not often take time to filter through memories of where I’ve been before. For example, I came across some drawings and collages I did in college when I was in architecture school (which I transitioned out of). I had forgotten about some of those projects, and I haven’t looked at them in over twelve years. It’s interesting to see how far I’ve come since then in my design and creation, but I could still see my design “aesthetic” peeking through, the beginnings of my creative self, and glimpses of who I am today. And remembering is helping me through my current transitions, giving me hope of what is ahead.

When was the last time you did this? Have you taken the time to “look back” recently? Does it give you energy to realize where you’ve been?

If you haven’t tried reflecting and remembering lately, I encourage the experience!

Take time to remember where you’ve come from; it could greatly inform where you are going.

Filed Under: Plot Notes, The Setting Tagged With: , 4 Comments
January 23, 2013

When You Can’t Do It All

screen print by James Brown – click for info

When I was young I used to love our annual visits to the family of my mum’s sister. They were such interesting people, particularly my aunt. Her many and varied hobbies included wildlife rescue work, auto mechanics, and fashion, and she often accompanied her sleepercutter (lumberjack) husband into the forest to fell trees. What an exciting life she seemed to lead. My own mother seemed so mundane by comparison.

I once asked my mother why she didn’t do more fun stuff like that, and she told me something that has stuck with me. She said, “All of that would be interesting but I would still have to do all my housework when I got home, and I just cannot do it all.”  I felt very annoyed on her part, and resented how my dad was keeping her down, stopping her from being fulfilled. Of course, the issue was not so clear cut as that; Mum wasn’t really a dull housewife and Dad was not a domineering taskmaster. My mother loves handcrafts, music, and books, and she made time to sing, sew, and tutor kids. My dad, while saying a woman belongs in the home, taught me to roof and gutter and supported my ambition to enter the trades.

As a work-at-home mother to young children, I am really trying to do and have it all, the thing my mother said she could not do. And right now we are remodeling a room in our home, turning the master bedroom into an amazing playroom. My husband and I are doing the work ourselves, and instead of the usual struggle I have to balance housework, mothering, and my business, I have hit right up against the blunt reality that I truly cannot do it all. Not “I can’t do it all as well as I like,” but that it is physically impossible. And the thing I enjoy so much, building things, is the thing I feel like I shouldn’t do.

I discovered the real person holding me down is me.

Luckily for me my husband won’t let me get away with that. His nudges for me to hire help range from the pragmatic — “a teenager to watch the kids is cheaper than a carpenter” — to the sarcastic — “it sure is lucky that when you are working big days we all stop eating and wearing clothes.” So I have hired help. And I hate it. I feel guilty and annoyed and lazy to need other people in this way. Even when the housework is a hated obligation, it is hard to give the task to another person who won’t do it exactly right.

So what is the answer, and where does all this lead? I don’t know. I hope I will get better at letting go with practice. I know that it is different for everyone, but I hope some of you can offer ideas or support.

All I know is that I am pushing ahead and trying, and that is all anyone can do.

Filed Under: Plot Notes, The Setting Tagged With: , 6 Comments
December 11, 2012

How to be Fresh Online (dance?)

‘Salsa Dancing’ by Jayne Ifeacho

I’m perching on the arm of a chair, in between dances.  I watch the couples stepping back and forth, turning, twirling, and smiling, energised by the music and the movement of their own bodies.

♪ ♫ La salsa. ♪ ♫ Happy music. This was me last week on a special night out. It was such fun.

Today Africando is playing on You Tube as I draft this post. I keep jumping up to shake a leg. Both legs.

The Internet has revolutionised our lives. I’m sure there are pockets of humanity who are as yet unaware of the wonder of the web. But for us reading Scoutie Girl it has made the world bigger and smaller all at the same time. I, for one, am grateful for the opportunities it has brought my way – working with great minds, making new friends from across the globe, and encouraging and enthusing other creative souls in both hemispheres while listening to my laptop.

And mobile technology is taking it further. In the morning I can reach for my smartphone to check my inbox. If there’s anything that needs doing sharpish I note it and get on with my day as intended. Before, I’d have to fire up my laptop to do that. But once I did I would fall down a digital rabbit hole, and two hours later have all sorts of pages open and my to do list very undone.

I use simple systems to bring structure to my life, otherwise it becomes this mass of possibility. Like a big blob of jelly. What shall I do now? Who shall I speak to now? What experience would I like now? Online tools and applications are a huge help. That’s why I’m a raving fan of Evernote, Buffer, and the little task bar on my Google Apps email account.

But it doesn’t feel good to me to be perpetually online. What about you? I need to fill up my creative tank, find raw material for my imagination, give and receive hugs, and I need to move my body. I’m wired for the sheer pleasure and physicality of dance, and I’m wired for spending time with living, breathing people.

Our mission, if we choose to accept it, is to be intentional in lining up our use of technology with our values, dreams, and desires.

To be fresh online we have to get fresh air, fresh experiences, and fresh conversations offline.

Does technology ever get in the way of your time with people or does it help? How do you keep yourself feeling fresh and alive so that you can integrate online you with offline you?

- – -

Enjoy the holidays! And perhaps a dance or two?

Filed Under: Buy You, For You, Plot Notes, The Setting Tagged With: , , 4 Comments
November 28, 2012

A Real Day Off

Heavily Laden by Hannah Shepheard

A while back I went hiking in the mountains with my family. Just some quiet family time, enjoying nature. After I stopped for the umpteenth time to photograph some random thing, my husband said, very casually, “If I had realized you would be working I probably wouldn’t have come.”  Oops.

I am sure everyone realizes that when you are running your own business from home it is so easy to be always working. That goes double if you are doing something artistic. Even when you designate family time or “me” time, work seems to creep in. I am not very good at shutting it all off.

I thought I was saving time by multitasking family time as creative time.

But then I discovered how great a real day off can be. Oddly enough it wasn’t even intentional. My sons had been begging me to plant a vegetable garden with them. I did some research and decided to build a “Square Foot Garden.”

So we bought supplies, built the boxes, filled them, and then planted the seeds. All in one day, without me spending any time thinking about my business.

It was one of the best days ever.

Since then I have been actively seeking real down time, and I have discovered that I need to actively prepare for it. Here is what I need to do:

Work First 
It is never ever all done, but I try to make sure there is nothing urgent even if I have to get up early to finish up some tasks before having fun.

Plan Something
Because my work is often sedentary, I like to do something active, but anything that engages your mind and/or body will work. For me, unstructured down time becomes work time.

Don’t Just Observe
It is an easy role for many artistic types, but the mind will wander. If I sit on the sand and watch my kids splash in the water, pretty soon I start sketching ideas, but if I get in there and start building sand castles, too, I can really switch over to family time.

Disconnect
It is not a real day off if you check your email 16 times. I need to turn off the internet on my phone, leave my sketch book at home, and hand the camera over to my husband.

What strategies do you have for making your day off a real day off?

Filed Under: Buy You, For You, The Setting Tagged With: , , 5 Comments