Sometimes the best thing to do is to look at life upside down.
Turn it around. Or turn yourself around.
Find a fresh angle in your mind.
Switch your perspective, and see the world afresh.
Yes, that's me in the ocean, finding balance in gentle waves. This shot was taken in Nicaragua... 2010, I believe.
Maybe I haven't done this particular pose since having kids, but I still do inversions. And there are a lot of other ways to bring perspective.
Some ideas to help see things in a different light:
- Take a different route to work/school/grocery store.
- Go on an adventure—even in your own yard.
- Go outside and do a forward bend. Look between your feet. Be safe, obviously, but this can be super fun! I especially love this view when looking at water.
- Get creative with a new project, or see if you can find a different angle on a work in progress.
- Take a break: take time for yourself, time to brood over ideas, time to leave ideas alone, time to relax, time to sleep, time to play, time with nature... Whatever you need.
Breathing life into a dusty manuscript.
Revisions are going well for FALLING THROUGH THE WEAVING, the novel I've brought out from the archives. But I actually had to step away from this project for a full year before ideas started to come on how to save it from wasting away in digital dust.
I've written two other manuscripts since last working on FALLING. I'd had an editor give me feedback, but the project seemed too heavy. I didn't have the passion to make working on it worthwhile.
Now, with a steady stream of fresh ideas, returning to this book has been a joy.
I've heard many writers preach the wonders of taking time away from a book, I've just never experienced the benefits in such clarity before. Usually I'm all gung ho to finish the thing and start querying.
Steemit has actually helped, giving me an outlet for writing that isn't my manuscripts, and a way to connect with other writers that has far more depth than Twitter. Now I'm taking a step back from querying, taking a break from the relentless waiting, high hopes, and repeated rejections.
I'm focusing on the joy of writing, the high that comes from a story recreated in my mind. The fact that I know this story so well, having four books completed for the series and two others planned, gives me a perspective I don't yet have with my newer manuscripts, a layered complexity.
Exactly the kind of perspective an epic saga needs.
Taking a year off makes the story new to me again. I get to go in and edit these characters, rough them up a bit, give them more interesting edges. I'm doing the same thing with the whole story.
So, yeah. Perspective.
What do you think?
What have you done lately to give yourself a fresh look on life?
Tell me a wee story, would ye?
Thanks for reading
(All photos and writing mine unless otherwise credited.)
Author bio: Katrina Ariel is an old-soul rebel, musician, tree-hugging yogini, and mama bear to twins. Author of Yoga for Dragon Riders (non-fiction) and Wild Horse Heart (romance), she's another free-spirit swimming in the ocean of Steemit.
dragon art: Liiga Smilshkalne
Banner by @PegasusPhysics
