Being connected is electrifying and empowering. I am absolutely addicted to learning, reading, and growing. My brain is constant on and thinking. I rarely feel bored, or perhaps I rarely allow myself the opportunity to feel bored. But there comes a point where all this connectedness, all of this constant forward motion, becomes mentally wearing. And that is not healthy.
Refresh, recharge, relax. Be bored and let your mind soar…
And play. Fumbling with ideas without the pressure of creating a product allows a different level of creativity. For some, this energy is more powerful than for others. I am one of those who responds poorly to stressful deadlines and I’ve found that some of my best ideas happen in the summer when I’m not even trying to be creative.
Which brings me back to boredom, because I think sometimes innovation is fueled by boredom! Balancing the awesome inflow of information from the twitter feed, blog reads, conferences, etc with making enough time to create, tinker, and fumble with ideas is essential and too often forgotten. Especially with our trusty smartphones always but a short reach away, it is ever so easy to get sucked into taking information in and never allowing your brain a quiet moment. Personally, my PLN is an enormous wealth of inspiration and ideas. It’s fabulously exciting! But it’s consuming.
I have written before that sometimes I find myself struggling to find balance and I wonder if those who live life passionately are constantly off balance, in a sense. Balance: being centered, an even distribution of interests/work/family/hobbies… Passion: strong and barely controllable emotion, a state or outburst of such emotion. I also think that striking “balance” is a very individual and personal thing. We all have different tolerances for stress, excitement, stimulation. For me, I am not so wonderful at dealing with any of the above. It takes me tremendous strength to find calm. And so, I often times find myself neglecting my health in the excitement and buzz of all that’s going on around me and in trying to achieve all my goals. And I forget to take a moment to let my brain be quiet and think about what it is I need.
So, it is time for me to take a moment to “turn off” and “unplug”. This month, I will revive my daily practice of yoga, enjoy the gym without feeling rushed, play with Legos and robots so I might be able to bring those wonderful experiences inside my classroom, spend time with my family and friends, and roll in the grass with my wonderful dog (who is curled up in my lap as I type). I will nourish my body and brain in ways that I’ve been neglecting. July is all about me, so apologies in advance if I mute you wonderful people for a bit.
“We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being.”
-Thomas Merton
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