Do. Rest. Repeat.

There’s all the time in the world, right? No, not really. In fact, time feels like it’s spinning out into irretrievable chaos. But feeling that open ease is so good, isn’t it? It’s also rare. Not long ago, coming home from some appointments, I realized that cancellations meant the next hour was open. I stopped on the spur of the moment at the library for a walkthrough. I picked up several books I wouldn’t have known to look for if I’d just been searching the site online. I remember thinking with joy, “my time is my own.” I need to introduce more of that feeling into my life these days. I need rest, openness, and a sense of possibility.

It’s a challenge, though. We’re told that the purpose of the recent circus atmosphere and outrage-inducing cruel maneuvers is to create overwhelm, thus paralyzing us and preventing effective resistance. Is it working? I’m peeking a few times a day (not in the morning, not before bed) at the headlines. Occasionally I read commentary from a trusted source. Not much more. Normally I’m not an advocate for denial. But it’s helping get us through the day lately. Targeted calls and emails to elected representatives are also regular features of the agenda. Is that enough? Of course not. It feels as though nothing is going to be enough. Is it something? Yes.

Rest where you find yourself.
Image by lottasilfverbrand from Pixabay

Protecting the nervous system

I feel a responsibility to track what’s happening to my country. But too much detail grabs me by the nervous system and prevents me from functioning.

In another context, the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh said, “When you feel overwhelmed, you’re trying too hard.” Can his meaning apply to us now as well? I think so.

The gift of space and time

When it comes to our creative work, that feeling of open-ended space and time can be a gift. Except when it feels like pressure we can’t sustain and/or expectations we can’t live up to. What tilts things one direction or the other? Maybe our preparedness makes the difference –our bodies and minds need rest. Especially during times like these when each day brings new stress and outrage, one of the most important ways to remain prepared is to remain rested. It’s hard to do, and worth striving for.

More discipline is not the answer

There’s a common impulse to berate ourselves for lack of discipline, and make strenuous promises to be better in future. Whatever the #$%@ that “better” means. I’ll never forget the heartwrenching experience of stumbling upon a box of childhood papers belonging to a man I knew. His mother had collected his schoolwork ever since he was a boy, and I was helping him sort things out after her death. At the age of ten, he’d scrawled an apology across a class assignment he’d turned in. “From now on I will not procrastinate and I will work on my handwriting and prepare each night for my projects.” Stuff like that. The ink for each word felt like it had been drawn from an artery with a blunt needle. Discipline just can’t be the answer to any of this, whether a learning disability, procrastination, perfectionism, overwhelm, rage, or fatigue.

What the work requires

To regain that open sense of time, I think about the advice from one of my teachers, Eric Maisel, to shift our focus from “personal discipline” to “doing what the work requires.” I have used that reframe for myself and for coaching clients, and it helps. We’re serving the work. It’s not really about us. This shift can skirt some of the ickier thickets in the creative landscape and reopen the view ahead.

Another perspective shift, from “I have to” to “I get to” may be what it takes to embrace a project with fresh eyes.

Respite with a companion animal

Where available, one more option for enjoying the moment is to set aside hang time with your animal companion(s). I have waxed rhapsodic about Hazel the Cat and her beneficial influence here. If you have the opportunity, some quiet time, and an animal to curl up with, take advantage. It’s a great calming influence. Returning to a creative project after some quiet time together, you may feel more able to approach a sticking point that now doesn’t seem so stuck.

What’s on your list?

I’ve told you some of my go-to’s. If you were to make a list of things you do to replenish your reserves and get some nourishing rest, what would be the first few items on your list?

We all need to pay attention to our needs, and the needs of the creative project or practice, in the moment. Everything’s subject to change, so routine and habits may not take us all the way there. We may need to pause and take in where we are, and what the situation requires, now.

There’s a reason the motto for my business is “Do. Rest. Repeat.”

How do you regain an open sense of time and possibility? What’s on your list? Do you have ideas to share? I’d love to know.

Thanks for reading! When you subscribe to the ACC Today newsletter, you’ll get each new blog post like this one, as it’s published, including occasional guest posts from wonderful writers and coaches. Here’s where to sign up.

PS On a related note, I’m happy to share with you a series of six guest posts recently published on JaneFriedman.com, all about becoming unstuck creatively. Here’s the link to the final post, on creativity’s inherent messiness. It contains links to the previous posts, as well. Enjoy!

PPS Want to chat about your creative life? Schedule a free welcome call with me. For more creativity tools, pick up your copy of FLOAT • Becoming Unstuck for Writers, get a deck of FLOAT Cards for Writers, and visit the blog on the Anne Carley Creative website.