EVERYTHING has its own rhythm: the ocean, earth, moon, and planets all have ebbs and flows of direction, contraction, and growth. And, just like these larger things around us, we have natural rhythms — some corresponding to the physical rhythms of the earth and sky, and some that are unique to each of us as individuals.
We each have sleep and creative energy cycles. My oldest son, for example, has always been an early riser, wide awake and ready to roll by 6:30 a.m., no matter what time he goes to bed. He’s most productive in the early morning. My youngest son, a night owl, naturally stays up until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and sleeps in late. I tend to the night owl side of things myself and am most productive between two and six hours after I have gotten out of bed in the morning (it takes me about two hours to truly feel awake).
I started thinking about all of this after reading Christina Katz’s e-zine article on the topic of rhythm and thinking about how that fit with my latest e-zine focus on the Problem of Time.
As writers, creatives, and just plain people who want to make meaning of our lives and contribute to the world in positive ways, it’s important to find and honor our own natural rhythms. Because when we do — when we stop trying to fit into anyone else’s ideal, whether it’s what time of day we should be most productive, or how we should go about it — we begin to build on our own gifts and strengths. And when we honor our down times (low energy or emotion), by taking care of ourselves and resting when we need it, we will experience more balance in our lives, as well as have the inner resources to create, to give, and to grow.
Things to think and write about:
- What is your natural rhythm of rest and activity?
- When do you feel most productive, and when do you just need to tune out the rest of the world?
- Are you honoring your rhythms?
- Do you need to change something in your life so that you can live according to your rhythms (work or childcare schedule)?
This is a good post, Amber. I am a morning person and always have been. Once upon a time when I was younger I could burn the candle at both ends but I can’t, I choose not to, attempt to do that anymore.
Yes, we do eventually learn our limits, don’t we. 🙂 For my part, I have a natural energy drop in the afternoons, from about 4-6 pm. It’s best for me not to try to get too much done at that time. When the weather is good, it’s a nice time to sit in the shade with some lime-flavored soda water on ice and think forward.
I had a question (on a separate venue) about how BlogTalk works. It’s kind of a “Pay it Forward” conversation. You write a blog based on the topic of “Finding Your Rhythm.” In the meantime, I read the blogs of people who leave comments here and select one for a topic theme for next week, and so on. This way, we have an ongoing conversation on topics and themes that are of interest to all of us, while providing links to blogs and websites of interest to our readers. I like it; do you?