Resting May Mean Moving Your Body

For a printer to work well it needs ink jet cartridges. Without it the great idea, the brilliant plan, the astounding photograph sits in the virtual world unexpressed beyond digital ones and zeros. From time to time, the printer needs an ink refill. The ink is used up and the printer needs refreshing. The photos develop weird tones. The sophisticated and complex printing machine is useless without ink. The same is true of human accomplishments of all kinds. It matter’s not the power of our vision if the ink, the last bit of effort we need to bring the idea out of our minds and into the world, is empty. The ink of real world creation could be many things; money, time, effort or inspiration. Whatever the juice is that brings our creations to fruition; one thing holds true. No matter what we draw on, it needs to be replenished from time to time.

There are many ways to refill the creative ink in all of us. What is consistant is that, no matter what the endeavor is, one of the essential components for bold execution of an idea is rest. Many people have the experience of working late into the night on a project, forcing themselves to stay awake and plug away. Very often, they have come back to the project after taking a break and discovered the answer that had eluded them, or worse, discovered that the work they had been doing was flawed by bad judgment and had to be re-done. Stepping back, getting rest is an essential component of any successful endeavor.

To restore the creative ink well there is a couple things the one can do. First and foremost is redefining the definition of rest. It should not be narrowly interpreted as sleep, napping or sitting on the couch. There are several aspects that need resting and this suggests the need for different approaches. The body needs rest, the brain and mind require rejuvenation, and the senses need rest. Of course the body can be rested with sleep, napping or meditating. There is other good methods of resting the body. Sometimes, after periods of idleness, the body needs to move a little and a walk or run can do the trick. The question to ask is what the body is in need of? Maybe it is sitting, maybe it is standing, maybe it is tired of the physical effort involved. Often emotional effort can feel like weariness and a little exercise relieves the body. So it is necessary to rest the body from what is taxing it.

The brain is often on overdrive. Often relaxing the mind, giving it a break from the problem is the quickest way to a solution. Relaxing the brain doesn’t mean switching from one form of stimulation to another. Give it a break from whatever form of thinking that has occupied it. Again exercise is an excellent option, the bodies steady rhythm and focus releases the mind. Meditation is also an effective method. Change things up and free the brain. Someone that has been doing accounting should pursue an artistic endeavor, or some activity that requires a different way of using the mind. Changing the nature of the activity is great for those who don’t easily come to a still and quiet place.

As for resting the senses, this is perhaps the most fun. Using music, meals, massage, aromatherapy are all great ways to rest the senses. The fundamentals are basic, to replenish the creative ink well rest is required and rest can be actively defined.