I’ve been working nonstop lately. Which is well and good; I’m in furiously-building mode with my business. And obviously love what I do. But all at once this pace has become too much for me. Suddenly drained, I find myself impatient and dissatisfied with myself, like nothing is quite right. Some of it, too, is the heat. Summertime does this too me. Even in the face of abject air conditioning, I get cranky, sweaty, cranky, irritable and also cranky. But the other part is the need to replenish. I tend to forget, when I’m feeling good and am on a roll, that I need to replenish, that I require soothing. My mind needs a day at a spa: a beautiful film or book, perhaps. A long bath? Or maybe just the tried-and-true favorite: lying in the dark listening to Beethoven and just breathing.
What do you do to slow down and become re-inspired?
In the winter I take a long bath with my favorite music. In summer I take a walk on the beach. In any season I listen to poetry.
Both excellent choices, Marianne. The beach sounds particularly good, maybe tonight…
There are several things I like to do.
1. I sit down with a mug of tea and listen to some beautiful opera arias or some Bach’s cell suites.
2. I go to a local ice cream place with my beautiful wife and we sit in big rocking chairs just munching our treats and enjoying the other’s presence and our conversation.
3. In cooler weather I go for long walks.
4. I do a little backyard bird watching.
Joe, thank you so much for stopping by. I love your ideas and wish I had a backyard for birdwatching. Look forward to reading your blog. Cheers.
Try wine-drinking in the bath with either a trashy magazine, a good fiction book or a great (only a great) self-improvement-like book (I don’t necessarily like self-improvement books, they’re way too hippie dippy for me), like “Taking Flight” or “Ordinary Sparkling Moments.” Yeah, baby.
Ah, Michelle…that is my other stand-by (of course! Are you surprised at all?)!
Awesome awareness you have there. I couldn’t lie down like you and listen to Beehoven. I love big music, but I’d be asleep in minutes. It’s the laying down part.
Me? I try to look at what I’m doing and decide why it’s making me so tired/burnt-out. Maybe I should be doing it differently or doing something different.
Aside from that, it’s time alone that resets my machine. Just doing nothing. Meditation is good for this. Concentrates the effort into smaller chunks of time. Hard to do though. I tend to putter in the garden or walk.
And movies. Can’t forget those. Not video, real like theatre movies. Matinees especially.
Read books or veg with friends. Or go on vacation, if it’s really bad!