On how to step out of a rut...

Sometimes, I feel like I'm on a path so well trodden that I can't see over the berm to the views alongside me.... Isn't this supposed to be summer vacation? What teachers dream of after the turmoil of test prep, crowded classrooms, and bureaucratic confusion? I have this habit of not being able to say no to things I really have no interest in doing which takes me away from those I do - even during summer vacation.

And then nothing gets done.

Yesterday was a day like that. I couldn't relax. I couldn't "get productive".  And then I just got grumpy...

So, I broke out the trampoline and rebounded for about a 1/2 hour to rev up the blood flow....


Then,

I took myself out to a movie.......  "To Rome With Love" - the newest Woody Allen flick. You have to appreciate Woody's meandering, quirky humor of the human psyche. You either get him or you don't. I do. So, it was a fun-get-out-of-my-dull-mood movie for me.





Next,

I had Ben and Jerry's for dinner - a small cone of Cherry Garcia and Coffee!Coffee!Coffee! nibbled in the shade while watching families and couples meander about the plaza.... While sitting there, I had this idea that it would be fun to set up a drop cloth and take impromptu portraits of passersby....asking them to tell me, in one sentence, one important thing about who they think they are.  Could you, in one sentence, give a clear picture of your essence?

Better get busy. You might be my first subject.....







And then,

I took myself to a bookstore and filled my head with interesting titles to explore later. Just being among the rows and rows of crisp, new pages and hardcovers and lots of things I still don't know makes me happy - and I don't have to buy a thing........






However, I did buy my Kindle a present so it can be more easily read in the nighttime hours just before I finally drift off to sleep.........




















Mission accomplished.  After a blissful night of deep, dreamless sleep, I'm standing on the edge of the berm of my rut. Reinvigorated. Tasks and creative endeavors prioritized and ready for production. Grumpiness removed.

But not until a short meander in my beloved desert...........

Step out of your rut. It'll do you good.

PS: Yes, I changed the look of my blog, again. This one suits way better, don't you think? Desert sand in the background, birds flying out of my sky. The photos are framed better. Simple. I think this one will stick. For now....

All images iPhone4 ©Diana Shay Diehl

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