“Summer is the time when one sheds one’s tensions with one’s clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all’s right with the world.” - Ada Louise Huxtable
Work/life balance. Whether it is digging in a garden on a weekend, sharing in some online humor with a small group, or scheduling a week or weekend away walking on the shore of a beach, recharging is essential to mental function, productivity, resilience, and even to happiness. Perspective taking builds self-knowledge and resilience because “when you’re in it, you can’t see it.” Taking a break in the balancing/prioritizing acts of family, friends, and work demands allows a change to step outside our “system” to gain perspective as we relax, and refresh. Sometimes family and friends help us recharge. Yet, sometimes the very same group can also be draining. Remember an ad campaign for blood pressure medication a few years ago that pictured relatives in the ads?
To help gain perspective quickly, there’s nothing like a vacation. Another blogger caught me up north in the Torch Lake area here. Ann Arbor also has a plentiful share of local delights. The main challenge in taking a break is to show up and actually take a short hiatus from cares and obligations. So…
Perennials from Farmer's Market A2
- What enriches and refreshes you?
- Are you able to schedule this in?
- Who is in control of your work/life schedule?
I finally returned to the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market last week. It was delightful to stumble across a bargain collection of perennials for $1.00 each. I was also able to sample Pilar’s famous tamales.
Silvia with Pilar's Tamales at Farmer's Market
I met Sylvia, who agreed to be featured in this blog post. Look at the smile on her face. Sylvia looks like a happy business owner to me. I’m glad a quick trip to Farmer’s Market gave me a chance to meet her. She also mentioned her Argentine colleague who makes the famously delicious Alfajores in town. That will be my next local delights goal, along with my various work and home goals.
With this in mind, it is useful to note the direction of the economic growth compared to happiness (the bottom line) of American’s average buying power compared to a happiness scale. The same chart is cited in a Psychology_of_Happiness entry in Scholarpedia. It is also cited by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi author of Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness (1988) in a presentation about “What makes a
American's buying power has almost tripled since the 1950s, while reported happiness remains almost flat. Source: Happiness data from National Opinion Research Center General Social Survey; income data from Historical Statistics of the United States and Economic Indicators.
life worth living?” here.
Pilar's Lunch Special, Spinach Tamale with Hibiscus Tea
Are we in charge of our schedules? Are we in charge of of our own career ambitions? Are we ambitious about the right things? Do we know what “right action” (definition is here) is for ourselves, individually, collectively. Could some time away, some perspective taking, a good question or two from a caring friend help us refine what we believe to be career success?
Perspective taking is a key aspect of business retreats. Note the definition of the word retreat:
- A peaceful, quiet place affording privacy, or security.
- A period of retirement, seclusion, or solitude.
- A period of meditation, prayer or study — www.allwords.com
One of my last business meetings before I moved into independent consulting was at a lesser known place that is available for retreats on North Campus, the Ford Presidential Library and Museum. It was a delight to run into Elaine Didier, the director. The campus was ablaze in flowers, including the grounds of the Ford Library. What a peaceful setting to reflect, to discern, and to plan. If your fall includes planning time to renew focus, consider the space and room carefully. The quality of planning and selecting a space is a model for how your event and follow-up will go and can greatly enrich your event outcomes and decisions.
Gerald R. Ford Library meeting space with Robin Wright, speaker, Ann Arbor, Michigan - 2008
“People are at their most mindful when they are at play. If we find ways of enjoying our work – blurring the lines between work and play – the gains will be greater.” – Ellen Langer, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
Tags: relaxation