Hi Reader!
Solvitur ambulando is a Latin phrase meaning "it is solved by walking."
I was not always a believer that the best ideas arrived away from our desks. I felt that a break was a luxury, a step away was avoidance. By taking a moment to do something else, I was not taking my work seriously. I see this same thinking mirrored in many high performers.
I've come to find that stepping away provides us with more freedom and improved capacity to arrive at a solution. We can embody this approach by closing the laptop, leaving the phone on the charger, and switching into a different activity that allows our brain space to play, and our bodies the chance to relax.
The first few minutes of your efforts in creating some space may be filled with worries, clinging to the challenge at hand, and an intense focus on the "How will I ever get through this?" or “I simply cannot afford to step away - even an inch.”
I invite you to focus on each bit of space you can make.
Even a small distance from our problems, the space for a single breath, can help us see a new perspective. This space may arrive as the steps you are taking on your walk, the individual brush strokes on the canvas. The single word arriving from your pen tip.
When I'm working with high performers and creatives, it is often surprising how helpful it can be to create this space and invite in a new perspective. The meditation teacher davidji ends his meditations with, "see you in the gap." Endless possibilities are contained within that brief space between our nagging thoughts.
Let’s explore for a moment what your work would look like if you released your tight grip on a specific outcome. What else emerges? What else is possible?
This week's challenge:
Is there one problem you're too close to? What would it look like to take a single step away from it?
Be Well,
Katie
PS.
Do you have a favorite way to take a mental break? I'd love to hear from you — reply directly to this email.
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Upcoming Events
Join us for an uplifting art filled discussion of “Your Brain on Art” on April 3rd @ 12-1pm
We’ll spend an hour getting to know each other, how creativity and curation are expressed in our lives, and discuss the book.
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What I'm currently reading:
The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World — Christine Rosen
Optimal Outcomes: Free Yourself from Conflict at Work, at Home, and in Life — Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler
The Subtle Knife — Philip Pullman