Plugged in and then there is SUPER plugged in!

Yesterday in my watercolor class, my instructor mentioned that she noticed I was having difficulty unplugging. She was spot on: my fingers just couldn’t wrap around that pencil to sketch, and I could not envision something to paint! Not my normal approach in this creative class that I truly enjoy. The suggestion from her was to just grab the pencil, put a simple picture of tulips in front of me, and do a 10 minute timed sketch. Next, move to a 15 minute timed painting of the drawing, skipping detail for the moment. I think my response was a blank stare with the thought running through my head ‘no way is this going to happen’. Guess what? I did it; in  fact, I did it twice, taking about 30 minutes altogether.

As soon as I finished this project, I noticed that my body actually felt lighter; my mood was uplifted. My thought was ‘what was going on before?’ So on my drive home, I reflected about the experience. I realized that I have been SUPER plugged in for about the last two months. Because I had been busy  caring for a family member with health issues, I had been skipping Yoga and Art Class, skipping personal time for my own interests, and then visiting out-of-town for two weeks. No wonder my persona came across as being SUPER plugged in. Interestingly, the greatest lesson for me was the change I actually felt in my body, once I unplugged and let myself get back into the moment of creating art. A good reminder for me to remember how important it is from time to time to unplug and detach yourself from the often consistent, never-ending responsibilities one has in life. I believe this  unplugging is vital to your JOY.

“Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.” (Maya Angelou)

Maybe one cannot always start with a whole day away, but what about just one hour each day for  your personal invigoration. Try it for a week and see if what you feel.