I’m in the Southwest right now, writing this post, having just traveled through Montana, Idaho, and Utah. We had an amazing road trip with stops in all the states, and special stops at Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. I have arrived in Colorado with my kids and husband to share with them this magical place where I spent my formative years and to spend time with my family here. I have been looking forward to this trip for months, planning it carefully as a rest bit and celebration of sorts, an opportunity to play in one of nature’s playgrounds and to recharge in this place where beauty abounds and inspires me. The summer course I was teaching is now done; grades have been submitted. My dissertation is in the hands of my PhD Committee for their consideration and feedback.
The southwest is where my heart is most at peace and feels at home and content. The beauty and the variety of the landscape puts me in a space of awe. The endless blue skies and the biggest, most spectacular clouds create a sense of vastness that makes me feel expansive, as if I could fly. The place is an outdoor play area with mountains for hiking and biking, lakes and rivers for paddling, swimming, skipping rocks, and fishing, complete with refreshing and breathtaking storms with lightning and thunder, perfect for fort building, games, and movies in the afternoons. I feel inspired, joyful, rested, playful, and free.
I am taking a moment in this place my heart calls home to pause and refuel, revel in accomplishment, rebalance, and rest before the final sprint of the PhD marathon begins. I am keeping this Three Thoughts intentionally shorter as I attempt to focus my time on unwinding and luxuriating in the beauty and peace of this place.
Have you experienced the value of rest and play in preparing you to continue on the journey? What do you do to rest? What do you do to play? How do you combine them and leverage them to rebalance? Where are you most at home? Is it a place, an activity, a person, or certain people who make you feel most content and at home? What helps you feel playful and free? Where do you feel most inspired? Do you intentionally make it a point to spend time in the places, doing the activities, or spending time with the people who help you to feel your best, who recharge you and inspire you? How might you be more intentional with integrating rest and play?
Quote(s) I’m pondering:
“The very secret of life for me, I believed, was to maintain in the midst of rushing events an inner tranquility.”
~ Margaret Bourke-White ~
“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”
~ John Wooden ~
What I’m listening to:
How to Be Happy and The Science of Cognitive Time Travel. Plain English, Hosted by Derek Thompson with Guest Laurie Santos
Laurie Santos is a superstar in the crowded field of happiness research. She is a cognitive scientist at Yale University whose course on the psychology of happiness was the most popular class in the school’s history. She is the host of the immensely popular ‘Happiness Lab’ podcast. Today, she and Derek talk about her favorite lessons from modern happiness research, lessons on striving and anxiety from existential philosophy, our relationship to time, the science of cognitive time travel, temporal mind tricks to reduce anxiety-like “psychological distancing,” and more.
What I’m reading:
Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind By Scott Barry Kaufman
What Amazon has to say:
Based on psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman’s groundbreaking research and Carolyn Gregoire’s popular article in the Huffington Post, Wired to Create offers a glimpse inside the “messy minds” of highly creative people. Revealing the latest findings in neuroscience and psychology, along with engaging examples of artists and innovators throughout history, the book shines a light on the practices and habits of mind that promote creative thinking. Kaufman and Gregoire untangle a series of paradoxes— like mindfulness and daydreaming, seriousness and play, openness and sensitivity, and solitude and collaboration – to show that it is by embracing our own contradictions that we are able to tap into our deepest creativity. Each chapter explores one of the ten attributes and habits of highly creative people:
Imaginative Play * Passion * Daydreaming * Solitude * Intuition * Openness to Experience * Mindfulness * Sensitivity * Turning Adversity into Advantage * Thinking Differently
With insights from the work and lives of Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Marcel Proust, David Foster Wallace, Thomas Edison, Josephine Baker, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, musician Thom Yorke, chess champion Josh Waitzkin, video-game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, and many other creative luminaries, Wired to Create helps us better understand creativity – and shows us how to enrich this essential aspect of our lives.
~
You can sign up to receive my Three Thoughts for Thursday post as an email on the third Thursday of every month by clicking here. If you’ve missed any of my Three Thoughts, you can find them all on my blog. If you enjoyed this post, take a look at July’s Three Thoughts. You may also be interested in reading my four-part Lessons of the Run series – Endurance, Resilience, Rest, and Grit. Take a look at my latest post, “YOU are the MISSING Piece!” and stay tuned for an update to this piece, along with a recent and new 5th Lesson of the Run – Humility and Adaptability!
If you are interested or know someone who may be interested, I also offer leadership and emotional intelligence coaching and workshops. You can find more information on my website, or you can use this link to set up a free 30-minute introduction to coaching session.
Last year, I celebrated the 5th anniversary of my stroke with the writing of this commemorative post, a training run, flowers, pie, and special time with my kids. I continued the celebration by running the Boston Marathon in April, five years after I ran the course for the first time (six weeks after my stroke). Please join me in celebrating these milestones by taking time to celebrate your own milestones and by fully embracing the opportunities in front of you, the value in the little things, and the beauty that surrounds you in this wonderful, messy life. I will forever be grateful for my stroke and the path of integrity I found in its wake.
Last September, I hosted my first local, in-person event here in the Seattle area, Savor the Sweetness. I hosted the event again and had a different but equally fulfilling experience; I think I will be making this an annual event! Thank you to all of you who attended June 8th for the Serenity Retreat. Contact me for more information, with any questions, or to join the invite list for future events!
I have the privilege of hosting the Emotional Intelligence Special Interest Group for ICFLA. We are kicked off our 2024 explorations and learning journey on February 27th, with guest, Dr. Heather Backstrom, author of Collaborative Confidence, who presented on “Using Stakeholder Mapping to Help Clients Enhance Self-Awareness.” On May 28th, we explored The Relevance of EI in the Workplace and Exploring and Supporting Confidence in Our Clients, with guest, Irené Turtle, Executive and Team Coach. I will be our host and speaker for our next topic, “Decision-Making and Anxiety in the Workplace” and hope you can join me for the August 27th session! You do not need to be a coach or a member of ICFLA to attend these sessions. Please join me for our remaining sessions in 2024!
If you are interested in joining and co-creating these learning communities, please use the links above to learn more about ICFLA’s Emotional Intelligence Special Interest Group and the Women’s Events. I hope you will come along for the journey!
I’m always looking for new inspiration, new books to read, and new podcasts to listen to, so please send your suggestions my way or comment on this post to offer some new recommendations!
As always, thank you for your continued support and readership! Stay strong, stay brave, stay true to you!
Wishing you a season of rest, pleasure, play, luxuriating, and basking in the beauty of the places, activities, and people who inspire awe and a sense of peace! Thank you for being a part of my journey!
Desiree Briel Rodi Consulting & Coaching 