During vacation I made a point of making sure I went into the ocean each day, just wading. Marine therapy is so good for the body and soul.
I also went swimming during that time. It was great. Exercise and deep breathing deepens my sleep.
I slept a lot during our vacation. I dreamed a lot too. Dreams always forecast a creative period for me. Experiencing them lets us know we are truly resting.
Like all artists, writers need our times of rest. This is a challenge. The will, desire, compulsion, need to create, write, or whatever you want to call it, is always with me. I guess all creative types face this dilemma.
Yet humans shall not live by bread alone; and neither shall we create 24/7.
Our stories are always with us. Some we will write. Others we simply hold onto, or shelter within. In between we must give ourselves over to rest and relaxation, however thick the struggle.
We must fight the urge to succumb to our ego that says, We are what we create.
Instead we must discipline ourselves, organize our lives along the understanding that we are who we are from within, not what we produce. We matter in simply being alive.
Our stories do not make us great. Rather it is the lives we live that deliver the stories, and sustain the impetus to write them that matters most.
How do you find rest and relaxation away from your writing?
How often do you dream?