Tuesday, December 30, 2003
I subscribe to www.powerquotes.net. They send a quote and a question pertaining to it every week day in my email. Recently the quote and question was about downtime.

"Downtime is where we become ourselves, looking into the
middle distance, kicking at the curb, lying on the grass
or sitting on the stoop and staring at the tedious blue of
the summer sky. I don't believe you can write poetry, or
compose music, or become an actor without downtime, and
plenty of it, a hiatus that passes for boredom but is
really the quiet moving of the wheels inside that fuel
creativity."

-- Anna Quindlen, Pulitzer Prize winning writer


Questions to Ponder

Do I get enough downtime?

How can I get more?
How will it benefit me?

I have long known the value of downtime for creative processes to kick in. Early morning, after awakening and before arising is one of the times when ideas, projects, and solutions etc, and the other end of the day is another one. A third time is while walking or biking if I am doing it alone. I also believe we are all talented, creative people but we need to not only listen to our internal dialogue we need the downtime to let our creativity blossom. I also feel if we are deprived of that time that our spirit declines perhaps only minutely but declines all the same.

While on our walk last night I took some pictures of unusual and beautiful sky conditions. It was good walking weather. We needed a jacket but pleasantly comfortable.