Are You Working Too Hard?

by Dotti

[Disclaimer: the photos in this post have nothing to do with the post. I just thought you needed to see more spring photos.]

This may be no surprise to you, but Americans put in far longer work days than workers in most any other country in the world and take fewer vacation days as well. Often times, we don’t even take sick days when we’re sick! It sounds like we’re working harder but not smarter.

So, what to do about it?

A couple of weeks ago, I read an interesting article in the Washington Post about this very subject. Sadly, if your job requires certain hours per day, there may not be much you can do about the number of hours you work but there are some things you can do to mitigate the situation. For those who have more control over their schedules, there are strategies you can employ to help yourself work smarter rather than harder. And for those of us who are retired or not in the work force, these same strategies may prove helpful for us, particularly those of us who consider ourselves ‘creatives’.

Here’s a brief synopsis of what the article says.

For starters, I learned that some of the most brilliant and productive people in the world work {or worked} only 4 or 5 hours a day, and that time was spent in intense work on whatever project was at hand. While they may have spent more hours in other endeavors, those tasks were less demanding.

Here comes the interesting part:  they knew that effective rest and leisure activities were essential to their overall productivity. Some examples:

• Most were physically active, hiking, walking, sailing, or whatever their activity of choice was. In other words, 'rest' didn't mean 'sedentary'.
• However, many productive people do nap during the day.
• Each day, Charles Darwin would take long walks on his 'thinking path'.
• Charles Dickens walked about 10 miles a day.
• The most accomplished musicians practiced more than other less accomplished musicians but also slept an hour more on average.

I take this to mean that we, you and I, should take our rest time seriously in order to increase our overall productivity and creativity and we should do it most days, not just on weekends or holidays. Further, when I discovered what so many famous geniuses did with their leisure time, I immediately connected it to the Nature Deficit Disorder that both Carol and Kim wrote about recently.

With all the constant digital stimulation, we’ve lost touch with nature, each other and ourselves … our creative selves.

The good news is that we don’t necessarily have to go to the local park or the nearest state park , lake or nature preserve. I have found that taking a walk around my yard {but ignoring the weeds!} or neighborhood with my eyes wide open, camera in hand {or not} can be a mini-thinking path. Fifteen, twenty minutes of this and the cobwebs in my brain begin to clear, I begin to find myself again. When I take a longer walk, it’s even better.

Here are some of the strategies listed in the article that I mentioned:

• Take rest seriously.
• Learn to say 'no' to things you don't want to or don't need to do.
• If you can't change your hours at work, change your non-working hours and choose leisure activities that will pay dividends to your overall well-being.
• Find a daily rhythm that works for you. If you're more creative in the morning, do your work then. Perhaps another time of day works better for you. Figure it out and use the time for your creative pursuits.
• Alternate between intense work and rest periods.
• Have an absorbing hobby. {Hallelujah!}
• Take a break from the digital world, if only for a few hours each week.

There’s much more in the article if you care to delve into it. But my mission today is to give us all permission to goof off more … but in a more productive and beneficial way.

If you have any tips or techniques that you already practice along these lines, please share them with us in the comments. And have an energizing, stress relieving weekend with lots of beneficial leisure time!

PS – Since we all love taking photos of butterflies, I wanted to be sure you didn’t miss this great article on Digital Photography School this week.

Music of the earth . . .

by Kim

"Flowers are the music of the ground
from earth's lips spoken without sound."
- Edwin Curran

A seed is planted, it sprouts, and a plant is born.

It continues to grow with the nurturing help of the sun and water and the nutrients in the soil. Stems will rise above leaves and the roots will reach further into the soil.  And as it continues to grow, a tiny bud will begin to form. The bud will continue growing until it matures enough to start opening. And as it begins the process of opening, petal by petal, its personality will finally be revealed. But at some point, it will lose its luster and the petals will fall.

A flower is born, a flower dies.

We, are like flowers. Each one of us a different color, shape and size. Some are playful, or mysterious, and while some are bold, others tend to be soft, like a whisper. We are all beautiful in our own right, but unfortunately some will go unnoticed altogether.

We, are like flowers. Except that we don't judge flowers. We accept them just the way they are, flaws and all. Although we don't call them flaws, we call it character.

We too, are like the flowers . . . we too are the music of the earth.

And each one of us holds the same importance in regards to making that beautiful music. We need to be careful though, that we don't make the same mistake as Pythagoras by discarding the fifth hammer. Because it is almost always the ones we least expect that are responsible for the harmony. They are the secret to the entire sound of the music precisely because they aren't perfect.

A seed is planted, it spouts, and a plant is born. With a few essentials, we all have the possibility of blooming, and we should remember that it takes all of us to make harmony possible.

Here's to a musical day,

Kim xo

Trust the process...

by Kim

"The poetry of the earth is never dead."

- John Keats

No, the poetry of the earth is never dead, but sometimes it may appear that way. Sometimes it just mimics a dead leaf that just hasn't dropped from the clutches of a branch.

But then, if you pay really close attention to the subtle details you realize there is so much to hear. So much that exists well beyond what we consider to be silence.

Because beyond that silence, beyond what we can see with our eyes, things are happening. A million beautiful things are going on around us. . . moment by precious moment.

Under all the layers, that stretch far outside the limits of our busy lives.

Beyond comprehension really. Awe inspiring, mind blowing stuff.

And the more time I spend observing, and not just being in it but living with it, the more balanced and at peace I become.

I know it sounds so cliche, but nature continues to be that place, that for me, is so miraculous just in the confines of how intricately it all works together, how connected it is to itself. A place of complete awe and wonder even if it's experiencing a butterfly emerge for literally over the 1000th time!

A place where life happens even when it appears there is none....and yet still teaches me to trust the process.

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
  There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
  There is a society, where none intrudes,
  By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
  I love not man the less, but Nature more."
  - George Gordon

{This is a polydamas swallowtail that has been over wintering inside my house since late last August and just emerged a week ago. We can trust that Mother Nature knows her business, and this is indeed a sign that spring is arriving. You can see a video of this one emerging from its long winters nap on instagram - kimatpickingpoppies - I had trouble getting it to focus at a nano-seconds notice and as it goes with nature there are no re-takes}

Have a great day,
Kim

It's not that easy

by Kim

. . . being green. 

- Kermit

"Kermit"

My inspiration for today . . . Sesame Street, and my dear friend Kermit the frog.

Kermit says it's not that easy being green. That it's not easy having to spend everyday the color of the leaves. He thinks it would be nicer being red, or yellow or gold, or something much more colorful like that.

He feels like it's not easy being green because you blend in with so many other ordinary things and that people pass you by when you don't stand out like sparkly diamonds dancing on water.

But he doesn't know how cool he is . . . being green and all.

Because green IS the color of Spring, and hope and of things to come.

And one of my very favorite things about spring is the new green growth, the renewal, and re-birth of all things that have laid dormant over the winter months.

Green is the color of balance and harmony, and is all about vitality and restoration of our senses.

There is something very tender and spiritual for me about spending time in nature, where there is truth to be found, a vulnerability to be experienced.

Living in and among nature is what gives me the strength to cope with the adversities of this life and it's what has gotten me through some really difficult times. And there are so many lessons about life to observe and learn when we take the time. Nature has so much to teach us, but we must be willing to look beneath the surface. To pay attention, to engage.

"Love Abounds in All things Green"

What I want Kermit to know, is that green is anything but ordinary. It's the color of cucumbers, apples and broccoli. The color of leaping lizards and lily pads, and of the beautiful monarch chrysalis. The color of ferns and evergreen trees, of cactus, parrots, and praying mantis.

Green is the color of sustainability and of our future. It is the color of nurturing and of life. It's the color of chlorophyll, the pigment rich in enzymes and antioxidants and critical in photosynthesis. Green IS energy.

Green is the foundation of the forest, and it IS the color of nature. All we need to do is open our front door.

Green IS, extraordinary!

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves

of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something

infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature - the assurance

that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter."

-  Rachel Carson

Wishing you all a green kind of day,

Love, Kim