“Lose yourself in nature and you will find yourself.” ~ Unknown

That is one of my favorite quotes about nature. Not only is the nature important, but so is the time off you give yourself in the process. When you create for a living, you need to be sure that you regularly take time off to refresh and recharge. You need to do “pointless” things that have no work value simply for the sake of doing them. Simply for the pleasure they bring. You need to give yourself time to enjoy doing “nothing.”

It seems counter-intuitive, but giving yourself regular time to do nothing will actually increase your productivity. Doing nothing increases your energy, both physically and mentally. It increases and rejuvenates your creativity. And with the increased energy and creativity, you’ll naturally be more productive. So be sure to allow yourself some “nothing” days in your work schedule.

Give Your Mind Time To Wander

During the last big snow storm we had a few weeks ago, I was able to let my mind wander by allowing myself the rare treat of taking a nice long walk. I’ve previously written about how good a morning walk can be for creativity, but every once in a while I give myself permission to go longer. I call it a “think walk” where I just walk and walk and walk through nature, sometimes back and forth, over the same path if I run out of woods and meadow.

It’s a little different than my morning walk. In my morning walks I just go for a little bit and let the monotony of the walk awaken my creative juices before I starting working. But on the longer walks, I’m pushing the reset button. On these long walks I let my mind wander. I let it go off on any tangents it wants, and all along the way I just walk, fully immersed in the natural world around me.

Doing Nothing Can Be Invigorating

I don’t set a watch or choose a distance on these walks. Sometimes these walks last for hours and miles. I just walk until I actually feel my body reset. There is truly a point where you feel the release in both your mind and body, and know that it has let go of the built-up stress within and reset itself back to neutral. It’s a wonderful feeling.

My optimal goal has always been to take such a walk once a week, to refresh me for the coming week. Unfortunately, I’m someone who kind of sucks at giving myself time off (I’m better at preaching it than practicing it). So I usually end up having something that prevents me from taking such a walk as often as I’d like. I’m working on it, but old habits do tend to die hard. I’ve done better this year than the previous four, so progress is always encouraging.

Doing Nothing Rekindles Your Creative Spark

Even though I suck at it at doing nothing, it is a goal. And giving yourself time off is something you absolutely need to do to reset yourself. Especially when you make your living as a creative, you will need such time off to let yourself rekindle that creative spark every now again so your work doesn’t actually become work.

So on that snowy day a couple weeks ago, I was actually able to follow my own advice and take some time to “deload” as Tim Ferriss says. Let me take you with me on that little walk through my woodland.

Let’s Go For A Winter Walk

The big fluffy flakes are silencing the traffic usually heard on the distant roads. The piles of white cotton ball snow heaped high on all the tree branches overhead. It coats the underbrush and blocks view of the neighbors, making me feel so alone. But not the lonely type of alone, the refreshing type of alone. The alone where you commune with your inner self and hear your own small, still voice within talking to you as you reclaim your natural wildness.

Walking further into the trees, the branches of the white pines and the junipers are bowed low. They create inviting little forts, perfect places to hide away and watch the snowy gems beyond them sparkle in the sun that can’t quite emerge from its soft veil of clouds. It’s a truly a winter wonderland.

A gentle breeze slithers its airy fingers through the frozen forest. The coating of ice that wrapped itself around the trees the night before the snowfall lightly crackles in the wind. The trees talk to one another with their icy cloaks.

At the far end of the woods, emerging from the trees into the open meadow beyond, the faded sun becomes more visible. Its outline glows in the snowy fog, but it remains shadowed behind the clouds, unable to break through their cover. However, it is enough to add illumination the open field unfolding below it.

The buckthorns stand in the open field beside the hibernating wild roses. Their juicy red berries glow brightly beneath their sparkling white blanket. Stands of last year’s goldenrod are scattered among them, their crispy stalks supporting a net of snow.

I breathe deep in the cold, taking in the beautiful scene and all of nature’s winter majesty before me. Then I turn, and back into the woods I go. Back to the house, and the wood stove, and the warmth, feeling refreshed, re-energized, and alive.

Written by Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf

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