by Linda-Ann Stewart

Sometimes, it’s good to take some time away from your work.  I’ve had a very busy month, and haven’t been getting as much done as I’d planned. My schedule would change, shifting priorities down the list as more immediate projects and events shoved into the time allotted. A couple of items that I expected to take a few minutes ended up taking hours.

Last week, I had a day that I spent running from errands to appointments. There was no time to work on any projects, but I was able to listen to a business audio CD as I drove around. It sparked an idea that opened a door for me and relieved some pressure I was feeling.

When I start getting frustrated or feeling blocked, a friend counsels me to “Shift the energy. Go do something else.” She has a point. If you just keep hitting your head against that brick wall, all you’re going to get is a sore head.

By taking a few steps back, putting your attention on something else, it gives the subconscious some time and space to work through the issue and deliver some brilliant new concept. Well, maybe not brilliant, but certainly new, and one that will probably break through the block or solve the problem.

That’s what happened last week, and also at the Sedona Book Fest. Both times, I’d taken the day to do an activity that supported my goals, but was time away from intense mental effort. I heard an insight that sparked an idea that solved issues I’d been struggling with for months.

Try it next time you’ve been ramming against a wall. Take a deep breath, walk away, forget about it, and do something else for a while. At the very least, when you come back to the task, you’ll be calmer, with more resources to deal with the challenge. And it’s very likely that you’ll discover a solution that you’d never have considered.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development, motivation, productivity, inspiration

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Sedona is still a small town. It’s not uncommon to bump into someone you know, whether it’s at the Post Office, grocery store, or an art opening. It’s especially true when you have interests in common and attend an event concerning that activity. This was especially true for me during the 2nd annual Sedona Book Fest.

On Friday, Jeff and I attended their afternoon workshops. The first one was on “It’s Easy To Publish Your Book” with Richard and Sharon Hooper of Sanctuary Publications and Wib and Jane Middleton of Thunder Mountain Design.

The only 2 chairs available when we got there just happened to be beside my original writing teacher, Bennie Blake. She’s no longer teaching, but is still editing manuscripts. It’s always such a joy to run into her. The last time was at a Jerome Art Walk a few months ago.

I greeted a couple of other people I knew. One of them had been a member of the writer’s group where Jeff and I met. It’s been a long time since I’d seen her. Jeff and I stopped attending the group over a decade ago.

The second workshop was on nonfiction, “What’s So Special About Nonfiction,” with three panelists: Maia Kincaid, Barbara Mayer, and Terri Marie. Maia’s a friend and author of four wonderful books about her communication with animals, plants, insects and the earth. I’ve reviewed two of her four books, and plan to review the third one soon.

The three panelists discussed their writing process and how writers must listen to their muse. One of them said something that sparked a solution to a problem I’ve been wrestling with for a while. It’s always inspiring to be around so much creativity.

On Saturday, Jeff and I went to the Bookfest, with over 60 exhibitors. Again, I saw Bennie, which really wasn’t a surprise. But I also ran into one of the students I knew from her class, Barb Hahn, who now conducts classes in creative writing. I haven’t seen Barb in almost two decades, so it was an unexpected pleasure to bump into her.

One of the exhibitors was the owner of Red Coyote Press and contributor to the anthology “How Not To Survive A Vacation,” Sue Flaig. I’d met her about 18 months ago, when I spoke to an association she belongs to in Tempe, AZ.

In another room, I spotted Ross Hawkins, of the Hummingbird Society. Ross is a professional member of the National Speaker’s Association and belongs to our Arizona Chapter as I do. I was surprised to see him there, but he was representing his wife’s book, “Word Pearls…Seeing Into Meaning.” We chatted about speaking and his favorite topic, hummingbirds. He has some wonderful stories about the antics of these magical creatures.

When I got to Maia’s table, I realized that I knew her editor, Debbie Dobson, who was sitting with Maia. As I said, it’s not unusual to see people you know in Sedona, even when you’re not aware of a close connection. This one was a 2nd “degree of separation” connection.

Over the years, so many people I’ve known have left the area. It was refreshing to reconnect with some of the folks I’ve known who are still here. And it was wonderful to immerse myself in one of the passions that I share with those friends. I look forward to attending the 3rd Annual Sedona Book Fest next year and seeing who else is there.

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After we visited Sunset Crater, Jeff and I drove along the loop road towards Wupatki National Monument, a cluster of prehistoric Native American dwellings. As the road rises and falls, and curves around cinder cones, you have a panoramic view of the Vermillion Cliffs, an escarpment to the north. Its pastel pinks and blues shimmer in the distance.

Since we’ve visited the several outlying pueblos before, we focused on the biggest one, Wupatki itself. Around 1100AD, native peoples built these dwellings out of the red rock, and soon had a population of thousands in the surrounding area.

I love how the builders used the huge boulders as back walls for their houses. And they have two ball courts. One has a blowhole, where a cold wind blows from beneath the land through a small hole in the ground. It was prehistoric air conditioning, and I’m sure it was appreciated by the overheated players (or current visitor) on the court.

There’s something so spiritual, peaceful and serene about Wupatki. The red rocks and dwellings, the unobstructed view of the Vermillion Cliffs, the San Francisco Peaks in the distance, all of it calms my soul every time I visit.

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Jeff and I recently visited Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments. They’re located north of Flagstaff, on a loop road. Sunset Crater is at the south end and Wupatki is at the north part of the loop. To do them justice, you really need to set aside a full day to enjoy them. We’ve been there several times before, and planned to spend most of our time at Sunset Crater.

First, we visited Sunset Crater’s visitor center, then ate a picnic lunch nearby. The visitor center has some great descriptions of the event that created the volcanic field somewhere around 1040-1100AD.

There are also some great interactive displays. I jumped up and down on a pad that was connected to a seismograph. It showed how my movement created waves just as an earthquake would.

There was also a 3D animated video of how the eruption looked. You could even turn it to view it from various directions. Very cool for someone interested in geology, as I am.

We drove up the loop road, and stopped by Bonito Lava Flow and Lenox Crater. The lava flow looks so alien that the astronauts trained on it before the Moon landing. Sunset Crater is closed to people climbing on it, but not so with Lenox Crater. There’s a steep path to the top of it, which I hiked.

After lots of rests, ½ mile and 300 feet higher, I reached the top. There was a panoramic view of the San Francisco Peaks on one side and the cinder fields on the other. When I hiked down, it felt like ½ the distance.

At Sunset Crater, we walked the 1-mile loop path near the base of the mountain. You walk in and amongst the lava and cinder fields, sometimes dwarfed by the raw black rocks. It’s stark and beautiful and photos can’t do it justice.

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The first weekend of this month was a busy one. On Saturday, Jeff and I spent the afternoon in Jerome, AZ, the ghost town near us. We wandered the galleries before their monthly art walk started at 5pm. After that, Jeff was in the gallery with his photographs so he could greet visitors and tell them the back-story of how they were taken.

While he was working, I sat on the gallery’s deck, looking out over the beautiful Verde Valley and Red Rocks of Sedona. I read and watched the shadows crawl across the valley. I could hear a rooster crow and a goat bleat from a house on the street below. It was so peaceful.

The next day, we went to Prescott to visit their arts and crafts fair. First, we went to Watson Lake in the Granite Dells to have a picnic. We sat in a ramada high above the lake. The view of the rounded boulders around and islands in the lake was gorgeous. Jeff decided to take some photographs.

Over an hour and a sunburn later, he decided to quit for the day. Neither of us had put on any sunscreen that morning, thinking we weren’t really going to be in the sun much. Bad decision. The sun in Arizona can cook you to a crisp in very little time. And it’s worse in the high altitudes, like Prescott and Flagstaff. I was luckier than Jeff, because I stayed pretty much in the shade.

Fortunately, the arts and crafts fair was around the Courthouse Square under the trees. Yes, Arizona has lakes and trees. So we didn’t get much more sun. But it was a lesson that we should have known by now. We’ll put on sunscreen any time we’re going to be outdoors.

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At the monthly National Speaker’s Association – Arizona Chapter meeting in September, I got great inspiration from the speakers, Neil Dempster, Marnie Green, and Lon Safko.

Lon Safko is the author of “The Social Media Bible,” a comprehensive look at this modern phenomena. For over a year, I’ve been considering buying a book on this subject, to learn more about it and how to use it strategically.

After being blown away by some of the things he shared, I decided this was the book that I wanted. He autographed it for me and I had my photo taken with him. I look forward to digging into this weighty tome, and mining its treasures.

As usual, I got great value from the speaker’s and was able to re-connect with some of my friends. It was a long, but rewarding, day.

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Last week, I took my first vacation in two years. I just did what I wanted and played around the house. I went to a movie in the middle of the week (gasp!), had lunch with a friend, hiked and took a day trip.

When the week began, I kept feeling pressure to DO something, anything, like email, write, work, etc. I’d feel the pressure surface, and would remind myself, “No, this is my vacation. I don’t have to do anything.” It was hard, but I knew it was important for me to be able to recharge.

It made me aware of how much pressure we put on ourselves to produce. Thinking time, creative space, mulling things over just aren’t valued in the U.S. culture. We push ourselves to the brink and keep pushing. This isn’t very healthy or helpful for creativity, solving problems or even productivity.

To be able to progress and formulate new ideas, we actually need downtime to do it. This is when our minds get their batteries charged and we get the juice to come up with new concepts.

It’s like being sleep deprived, which our culture also is. Without sleep to reset our bodies and process our experiences, we tend to get sick, confused and cranky. We don’t value something that is integral to our survival and thriving.

It’s interesting that looking productive is more important than actual efficiency. If we’re not pushing ourselves, then it’s assumed that we’re slackers. But the most inventive people are those who sit and look into thin air as they think. They do enjoyable things as their minds process and incubate ideas.

After exercise, we need to let muscles rest and rebuild. The same is true of our working lives. Taking time-off is necessary for not only mental health, but also physical health. It was hard, but I forced myself to take the time to give my brain a rest. When is your next time-out?

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

motivation, productivity, inspiration

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Jeff and I were driving from Jerome to Cottonwood when the Flagstaff Schultz fire got started last month. Initially, we saw a little bit of smoke over the rim.

Within a half-hour, that smoke had grown into a huge column of smoke. From that we could tell that the fire had really exploded. Apparently, the fire was caused by a hiker abandoning their campfire without putting it out thoroughly.

Most people think that Arizona is all desert. In actuality, much of Northern and Eastern Arizona is wooded. It has a very active lumber industry.

Fire is a natural cycle in these woods, but normally it’s mainly on the floor of the forests. In this case, fire actually burns off brush and improves the health of the trees. Gigantic forest fires, like the one in Flagstaff, burn the trees and leaves scorched stumps.

A week after the fire began, we drove up to Flagstaff to view the extent of the damage and see how firefighting efforts were going.

It looked like the entire side of one of the mountains was smoldering. It’s heart-rending. It’ll take decades, if not a century or more for the forest to recover.

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Six years ago, I joined the Arizona Chapter of the National Speaker’s Association as a Candidate Member. Over the years, I’ve attended their meetings, gained a lot of information and met some great people. Because of some personal issues, I wasn’t ready to make the leap into professional status.

Last month, I was finally ready (or close enough). I submitted my application and documentation to meet their criteria, and was accepted. I am now a newly minted, honest-to-goodness, authentic professional speaker. This week, on Tuesday, I was also the featured professional speaker on the Arizona Chapter’s website.

This happens at a time when my Tobacco-Cessation classes are ending due to state budget cuts. When one door closes, another one opens. Sometimes you have to search for the open door (or, at times, open window), but there is one. Although I’m sad about my classes ending, I’m looking forward to the possibilities that lie ahead.

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In the 27 years I’ve lived and hiked in rural Arizona, I’ve never seen a poisonous snake in the wild. I’ve seen many non-poisonous ones, even on my own deck. I know to watch out for them, and to be careful where I’m stepping.

Yesterday, Jeff and I were in the southern desert, near Phoenix, so he could take some photographs. On our second stop, he went one way, I went another to scout for him. Even though we’d just been warning each other to beware of snakes, I wasn’t as conscientious or mindful as I should have been.

I glanced at the ground and walked forward without paying it much attention. When I should have been examining the dirt in front of me, I was looking up a hill.

“Buzzzz,” I heard, the warning everyone dreads. About 2 steps in front of me was an upset rattlesnake. By the time I noticed her, she was barely out of striking range. I instantly backed up as quickly as I could to get away from her. The snake blended into the dirt perfectly, and it was no wonder that, when I just scanned the ground, I didn’t see her.

As I trotted back towards the car, I yelled, “Rattlesnake” at Jeff. Instead of leaving it alone (as a reasonable person would), the photographer was thrilled and said, “Cool. I’ve wanted to photograph one for years.” He spent the next 20 minutes (way too close to it for my peace of mind) taking pictures of the snake. For another photo of it, visit TheCreativesCorner.com, Jeff’s blog.

My mom said, “God protects drunks and fools,” and I frequently use the affirmation, “I am protected at all times, under all circumstances.” I sat in the car, feeling like a fool, and thanking God profusely for the gift of the warning to walk no further.

Life can turn on a dime. Mine could have taken a challenging turn yesterday. I’m very grateful that it didn’t, and will pay more attention to where I’m about to step in the future. I’ll also use my affirmation for protection more often, especially when I’m out in nature.

Copyright 2010 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

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