“Spring Forward” — More than just a time change

I’m still pondering our “spring forward” tradition of moving our clocks 1 hour ahead, when again today I awoke in the confusion of wondering why it wasn’t yet daylight. The weather now is like it was that first day after the time change… a bit unusual for the Texas hill country, because it’s misty and foggy, and even when it became daylight, it was still a dark morning.

As I recall that morning after “springing forward,” the weather fit my mood, as I was feeling a little foggy myself. That’s normal for the day when shifting clocks make you wake up earlier or later than the day before. But it was more than that for me. In contrast to being surrounded by this new spring energy, I was myself feeling stagnant and frozen. My creative energy had been covered up by my massive to-do list and the mundane requirements of everyday life.

This revelation came to me as I was hurrying to a doctor’s appointment in Austin. After that, there were meetings, then a pile of desk work that needed to get done. There are ALWAYS things beckoning our attention. Finding balance in how we spend our days is the challenge!

Creative people need to prioritize their creative expression, along with other high priorities like maintaining our physical and mental health – especially during these times of chaos and higher-than-normal anxiety in our world. It’s soooooo easy to get covered up by all the things.

I remember having had that awareness, I went to bed that night planning the next day’s creative possibilities, and woke up the next day looking forward to spending time in my studio, doing what feeds my soul, and although the morning came an hour later and was dark and misty like the previous day, I woke up feeling sunny, with my internal battery fully charged!

And now, as I finish this writing, I’m going into my studio for at least an hour! I’ll set my phone timer, and at the end of the hour, I can choose either to keep working or to switch gears and get some other things done.

PS: In recent years, I’ve learned that when I lay my head on the pillow and think about a handful of things I appreciate from the day that’s just ended, sleep comes more easily, and on most days, the morning feels like a delicious and cleansing reboot. Give it a try yourself!