Rest and the Relaxed Writer

"Take rest;  a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop."

    - Ovid (43 BC - 18 AD)

 

Listen up, writer friends!  

Just as you can't expect an engine to continue to motor uphill without downshifting, you can't expect your writing efforts to consistently yield "bounty" on the page without accommodating reversals or shifts in your energy and output.

In other words...you gotta' take time to relax.

Take a day trip.  Abandon the chores and play with your kid for the morning. Garden, ride your bike or picnic all day with friends. Take an afternoon to see an art exhibit, a flea market, a movie. Or enjoy your morning coffee in a busy cafe.

Consider these your only "rules":

1.  Do not fret over what you choose to do: the activity itself doesn't matter. 

2.  No guilt allowed.  Your projects, your responsibilities and your writing projects will wait.  If guilt or anxiety creep in, remind yourself that the time you're spending is limited.  Remind yourself that time away is an investment in yourself and your writing.

--

Ovid's first-millennial insight is confirmed by science today. We know that when a field rests, natural processes replenish the soil with nutrients.  When humans sleep, our bodies circulate growth hormones to repair and renew our cells.

Our writing also benefits when we take time to relax. Time away enriches our perceptions.  We "see" and "hear" more clearly. We conceive new project ideas, generate new images, and put together new story arcs, metaphors and associations. 

Best of all, we have a little fun in the process.

---

photo credit:  Nicolas_T (Flickr.com)

Comments

[Kathy Sena]

Terrific post, Marla. And timely, given our conversation on Twitter about my working too late!

Tonight, my husband had to be away so my son and I ordered pizza and salad and snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie. Good stuff.

I subscribed to your blog. Such wise advice for harried writers -- and everyone else. Thanks.

[Marla]

Hi Kathy,

It's hard to "get it perfect" every day, isn't it? We work late one day, take time off to be with our families the next.

I was just talking to a coaching client about this today. Because "life balance" is dynamic, it can be helpful to assess our successes by considering the overall trajectory of our week (vs. day to day). "I'm 'off' today but on for the week..." is a great way to let ourselves relax.

Your son (http://is.gd/2yZid) is a cutie, btw. I can see how he'd inspire many a post on ParentTalkToday. :-)

-Marla | @MarlaBeck (Twitter)