Inspirational Rest
Where do you usually get your best creative ideas? I’m not talking about a source like Pinterest, or social media scrolling, but instead, the moments when your brain has been rolling around ideas all week, and suddenly the lightning bolt strikes and your “aha” realization is crystal clear.
For me, this most often happens in the shower. I have a couple of theories as to why this is. For one thing, it is often the only time during the whole day when I am apart from my family and it is quiet enough to let my own thoughts be heard. There are no questions to be answered, no meals needing to be made, no screens to distract my attention. It’s almost kind of a sacred time that both relaxes me and refreshes me all at once. I frequently find that some problem I was facing all of the sudden has an inspiring answer that has come to me out of the silence of a shower.
It seems that during the rest of the day when my brain is trying to juggle all of the tasks that come up and interrupt my scheduled plans, good decisions are harder to come by. Too much information without the time to process leads to poor choices and exhaustion. However, by taking advantage of the mental rest that comes from twenty minutes of relaxation and alone time, more is able to be sorted out and new ideas formed than from a whole day of trying to figure things out while remaining busy.
Perhaps for you, the shower is not the place or time when this happens. It could be in the early hours of the morning when no one else is awake or in the hours after everyone else has already gone to bed. This is the time when you aren’t on your phone or binging a show but truly letting your mind rest in the stillness of the day and seeing what it is able to come up with.
As a parent, I often fantasize about napping in the afternoon when the 2-4pm drowsiness of the day hits me. However, it is actually pretty rare when the opportunity for a nap comes up. There is always some kind of interruption or need to be met that just leaves nap time as an elusive dream. I have come to find that quiet rest doesn’t always have to mean napping though. In fact, just setting aside twenty minutes and putting on some white noise to drown out any distractions can often be a satisfying pathway to relaxation and mental rest. Leaving the digital devices elsewhere and just lying down in a quiet room, whether to sleep or just enjoy the down time, can have the same relaxing and stimulating effect as taking a shower. Finding those moments in a day where there is nothing competing for your time and attention can be so rewarding for your mental health and refreshing to your body and spirit.
Challenges/Points:
Often, our best and most creative ideas come from the moments of uninterrupted solitude when our brains are given a rest and are able to process and produce new ideas.
On a normal day, moments of mental rest and clarity might come through routine activities such as taking a shower, going for a walk, or carving out a few moments of silence when all other distractions are eliminated.
If you can figure out when your brain feels most relaxed, and work that situation into your everyday routine, you might feel better equipped to handle the problems or projects in your life on a regular basis.
Questions:
Think about the time of day when your best ideas come to you. Is there a theme, location, or specific atmosphere that is conducive to that happening?
Where is the best place for you to go when you need creative inspiration?
How can you carve out time in your day for moments of stillness and quiet reflection that allow your brain to freely problem solve and process the input of your day?
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