Issue #5 - Infrastructure 101

This is about being physically active. Numerous studies have made it clear move the body, stimulate the brain. Who doesn’t need that?

After New Year’s Day I too make promises to eat more wisely, exercise regularly and make healthier choices for myself but for 2008, acting on these resolutions was to prove more pivotal. This past year my world shifted as I lost a parent and a dear friend and mentor who moved to the west coast. What followed was a need to reflect on just how I would take their support and internalize it. For some reason this included a hard look at the most difficult of my life choices, starting my day.

I don’t know how many, like myself, struggle with morning routines. Even back when I had a “regular” job, not the free-lance work I do today, I played a version of “Let’s Make a Deal!” to get myself up and going. “Okay, you can watch the news for 15 minutes, or do three crossword puzzle entries, then into the shower.”

Maybe it was the result of a serious childhood illness but I’ve never perceived myself as physically hardy. I must have been the only girl to get detention in ninth grade gym because I couldn’t do a back bend. Whatever the reasons, exercise has never come easily but I do finally understand how much it is tied to activating the mind. As a maturing adult, I can finally get my head around “where the buck ends” and tell the difference between making a choice and that default position of doing nothing

So I went to the professionals for advice and motivation. I started with Twyla Tharpe’s book, “The Creative Habit” but while her 5 am gym routine was inspiring, let’s face it, she’s not your average person and she already has a rather large advantage, her business is being physical.

Here’s what I found that works for me:


from Brian Tracey,
training & development
author and speaker —

Eat the frog, a time management principal.

One of the biggest benefits of moving to the city has been that I’m forced to walk more. In addition, I’ve been trying to include a long walk at least 3 times week in the morning but all too often I find myself postponing it until later and then of course it never happens. Now I do it first.


from Tony Robinson, self-help and career author and speaker —

Make the hard things you have to do as much of a 10 as possible.

I walk around the Central Park reservoir. Not only do I love being near the water but also the bird life here is active even in the winter.


Really Looking

• Now I’ve taken to noting how the population changes all year round (cormorants, buffleheads) and how they congregate, sometimes looking like a flotilla waiting for action or standing at military attention on the ice.

• It is also an open area and gives me the sky to watch changing cloud formations, the light on the water and the giant silver “birds” as they cross overhead. I still get a thrill that humans can fly.

Really Listening

• I asked for an IPod Shuffler for Christmas. My son filled it with tunes he knew I’d like and some surprises. He’s going to keep creating new mixes for me, and along with what I add myself, keep it fresh and lively.

• No big surprise but the rhythm of the music helps me keep up the pace.

from Prevention Magazine —

Wake yourself up.

• Post a colorful visual near your bed to focus on.
• Re-moisturize when you rise. Drink a glass of water.
• Massage your face.
• Use natural light. Leave the shades up.
• (my addition) Do some floor stretches. Supported by the ground it’s easier for me to start moving my body in preparation for the walk.

from yours truly —

Make it your own.

I recently added swimming to my exercise choices and joined the local high school pool but I was having a hard time adjusting to their set up. The lap pool was only 3 feet deep and six lanes, which meant I almost always had to share a lane. Although I love the water I’m not a particularly strong swimmer and being passed by 80 years olds was demoralizing.

• I decided to use the smaller 10-foot pool. Without lanes and with the increased depth I felt I had more room for my body and better yet, nobody was in it!

• I varied my activity. I divided my thirty minutes between swimming and jogging. Not as hard to sustain.

• Now I Iooked forward to coming. I don’t feel like I have to “keep up.”

from Janice Hoffman, Success Is Sweetest, life coach —

Play of the day for 21 days.

What does this have to do with creativity? Everything. In order to sustain creativity there has to be energy, vitality. That means having systems that work for us, not endlessly draining ourselves in an attempt to take care of life’s drudgery.

I’ve heard brain studies indicate it takes 21 times for a new behavior to become ingrained. That sounds optimistic but I’ve been at it a month and so far it’s working. I think the real challenge will be to continue to keep it interesting. Creativity is the tool of most value here. Variations on the routine, like taking a different path home from the reservoir and changing the music will keep this more of a process and a living entity. Tell me your story!