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Fantasy Romance

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10 Ways to Conquer Stress and Bring Back Your Creativity

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So, yes, I missed the deadline to have the first draft of A Love of His Own completed. I am still wrestling with it, along with significant work stress. Oh, and we still don’t have a kitchen.

We know stress kills creativity. And, given my current circumstances, it isn’t going anywhere.

stressed

Me during the height of budgeting

So, what can we do about it? How do we tame the stress so our muse will come hang out with us and bring some inspiration along with her?

 

Here are 10 Things “experts” Say Will Reduce Stress

1. Get enough sleep

Because it’s so easy to sleep when you’re already stressed. It’s not like stress causes insomnia or anything. Oh wait.

 

2. Eat Well-Balance meals

Already doing this, though this can also be a source of stress. It’s a lot easier to pick up something on my way home that to spend thirty minutes I don’t have trying to put together a healthy choice. In a non-existent kitchen.

 

3. Limit Alcohol and Caffeine

Gave up both when I was pregnant, and I never started back on either. Very liberating to not need that cup of coffee in the morning, though I was awful to be around for the two months it took to break the habit.

Frankly, I’m not sure if this just transfers your stress from you to your family members as they now have to deal with you without coffee…

 

4. Count to 10 (or 20 or 1,000)

This has helped me when dealing with my children, but not for the bigger things like when those children are ill. Or washing dishes in a bathtub while my youngest insists she must take her bath right now.

 

5. Take Deep Breaths

Okay… Feel like medical science might be stretching a little here.

 

6. Take a time-out.

No, not the kind you give your children.

Although maybe.

They recommend things like practicing yoga, listening to music, meditating, getting a massage, or learning relaxation techniques. According to the experts, stepping back from the problem helps clear your head. Because I totally have time for this! If I did, I might not be as stressed out…

 

7. Learn what triggers your anxiety.

What triggers mine? Not having a kitchen.

Or impossible goals like trying to balance work, children, a spouse, a household, and writing. You know, modern American life.

 

8. Maintain a positive attitude.

I think I actually flipped off the computer monitor when I read this. Mature, I know.

 

9. Get involved.

Volunteer or find another way to be active in your community, which creates a support network and gives you a break from everyday stress. Which totally works because I’m not already stressed over not having enough time meet all my current obligations.

 

10. Welcome humor. A good laugh goes a long way. 

Clearly what some of these coping strategies are. For me, anyway.

 

If nothing else, I suppose it did make me smile a little. Sometimes, science can’t solve all your problems. Although a good contractor would go a long way to solving mine.

 

Home Renovation: Does Lavender Coordinate With Pink?

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We finished painting my daughter’s room a soft lavender. Misty Lavender to be precise. Who thinks up these names? Maybe it’s a side job for romance writers.

paintcolors
Misty Lavender pairs with Erotic Indigo? Ravishing Red?

But I digress.

It took a single coat of paint plus some touch-ups. Between my husband and me, we painted the room on Saturday and did the touch ups Sunday morning. My daughter slept in the living room on a carpet sleepover Saturday night as she didn’t like the smell. I barely noticed the smell, and I have a hyper-sensitive nose, but I figured she wanted the carpet sleep-over we’d promised. She was back in her room on Sunday.

We were feeling pretty good about our skills and the room. The pale lavender looks lovely next to the Silky White trim.

But I did notice the ceiling looked out of place.

According to HGTV, it’s ideal to pain the ceiling a lighter shade than the walls so that the ceiling looks higher, but it doesn’t have such an abrupt transition from the walls. So, we did that.

ceilingcat
A good reason to paint the ceiling a different color than your cat!

We figured this wouldn’t be a huge issue as we’d painted the ceiling a light purple to go with the previous My Little Pony Twilight Sparkle purple room that she’d had.

Except, it didn’t look right, and I didn’t know why.

twilightsparkle
And a chunk of my paycheck because my daughter loved her for years.

When my sister came over, we showed her my daughter’s room. After she said it looked nice, her very next words were, “You’re going to paint the ceiling, right?”

Well, um, why do you ask?

She gives me “the look” I’ve gotten for many years when my complete lack of color knowledge peeks through. She then explains that the color on the ceiling has red undertones and the colors on the wall have blue undertones.

I look at her. “So that means blue and red don’t go together? Even if they’re on our flag?”

She was kind enough not to roll her eyes at me. Well, at least while I was watching. She explained they didn’t go together and that’s why your attention is instantly drawn to the ceiling.

So we need to paint it.

Home projects never go as I expect.

How about you? Ever have any painting mishaps? Ever end up with colors that clashed? Why? Did you fix them?

10 Ways to Conquer Stress and Bring Back Your Creativity

by

We know stress kills creativity. And, given modern life, stress isn’t going anywhere.

stressed
Me during the height of budgeting

So, what can we do about it? How do we tame the stress so our muse will come hang out with us and bring some inspiration along with her?

 

Here are 10 Things “experts” Say Will Reduce Stress

1. Get enough sleep

Because it’s so easy to sleep when you’re already stressed. It’s not like stress causes insomnia or anything. Oh wait.

2. Eat Well-Balance meals

Already doing this, though this can also be a source of stress. It’s a lot easier to pick up something on my way home that to spend thirty minutes I don’t have trying to put together a healthy choice.

3. Limit Alcohol and Caffeine

Gave up both when I was pregnant, and I never started back on either. Very liberating to not need that cup of coffee in the morning, though I was awful to be around for the two months it took to break the habit.

Frankly, I’m not sure if this just transfers your stress from you to your family members as they now have to deal with you without coffee…

4. Count to 10 (or 20)

This has helped me when dealing with my children, but not for the bigger things like when those children are ill.

5. Take Deep Breaths

Okay… Feel like medical science might be stretching a little here.

6. Take a time-out.

No, not the kind you give your children.

Although maybe.

They recommend things like practicing yoga, listening to music, meditating, getting a massage, or learning relaxation techniques. According to the experts, stepping back from the problem helps clear your head. Because I totally have time for this! If I did, I might not be as stressed out…

7. Learn what triggers your anxiety.

What triggers mine? Impossible goals like trying to balance work, children, a spouse, a household, and writing. You know, modern American life.

8. Maintain a positive attitude.

I think I actually flipped off the computer monitor when I read this. Mature, I know.

9. Get involved.

Volunteer or find another way to be active in your community, which creates a support network and gives you a break from everyday stress. Which totally works because I’m not already stressed over not having enough time meet all my current obligations.

10. Welcome humor. A good laugh goes a long way. 

Clearly what some of these coping strategies are. For me, anyway. Though, it’s not exactly funny as this helped me very little.

 

If nothing else, I suppose it did make me smile a little. Sometimes, science can’t solve all your problems.

 

Do We Really Need Sleep?

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According to Harvard (sounds like a reputable source), we do, indeed, need sleep even if science doesn’t know why. Yet.

There are some theories on it, though.

Why do I care? Well, other than the sleepless nights of late, I have a certain character who is quite skilled with sword and shield that is about to lose a fight because of sleep deprivation. This seemed legitimate given how I’ve felt lately, but I wanted to know if the science backs me up on this.

Looks like it might.

sleep2

Most us feel better when we’ve had a good night’s sleep. Better able to focus, we feel better, and we’re just in a better mood. The Harvard article relates eating to sleeping. We’re driven to eat by the powerful force of hunger. There’s a reason it’s the first level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. We are also driven to sleep by being tired.

Sleep is also on the first level of needs.

sleep1
From Wiki Commons

Scientists have apparently tried all sorts of sleep deprivation studies to see what happens when humans and other animals don’t get sleep. Still no conclusive answers.

 They do have a couple of theories:

Inactivity Theory – This says that sleep was evolutionary to keep us inactive when we’re most likely to get eaten by a lion. Seems pretty bunk as it would be safer to be awake and hiding in your cave from the lion than asleep and unaware of the lion. I suppose it was a start, and that’s what science is all about.

 

Energy Conservation Theory – One upon a time, there was no such thing as an obesity epidemic. Food was scarce, and humans even had to adapt to eating meat to get all of the fuel our massive brains needed. This theory suggests that sleep reduces our body’s energy consumption during times when it’s least efficient to search for food. Research backs this up as we use as much as 10 percent less energy while asleep. Gotta be more to it, in my opinion, though, as many American are over nourished but still suffering from the ill effects of sleep deprivation.

 

           Restorative Theories – This basically says we sleep so that our brain and body can repair itself from all that we did to it while awake. Research is starting to back this up after a series of studies showed animals deprived entirely of sleep lose immune function and die in weeks. More research has shown us that certain major repair the body does like muscle growth, tissue repair, and the release of growth hormones occur mostly during sleep.

sleep3

Brain Plasticity Theory – Science is discovering that sleep is at least correlated (if not causal) to changes in the brain. Studies have given us more insight into this, showing us the link between sleep deprivation and the ability to learn or perform tasks. 

Ha! There we go! My scientific evidence that it’s harder to perform tasks when sleep deprived! Backs up my personal experience at any rate. And perhaps it would realistically slow my Knight enough to bring him to his knees.

 

How about you? Ever experience the downside of sleep deprivation? Maybe you don’t need as much sleep as the rest of us? Or maybe you need more? Could you believe a sleep-deprived character would have a hard time swinging his sword?

Six Things I’ve Learned from Strength Training

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So, I’m a couple of weeks in on strength training. And, it reminds me that I’m not twenty-seven any more.

There are things I’ve struggled to do, things I’ve had to ease back on to avoid injury, and days where my body just aches.

I usually walk one-and-a-half miles a day with some pretty impressive hills, but strength training is very different. After being away from it for eight years, it’s reminding me of how very different. Here are some of the things it’s taught me so far.

1. The Hunger Eases – I was achingly hungry for a few days after my first session. But it eased, and it hasn’t really returned.

Now it’s like half a pizza.

2. Need for More Hydration Doesn’t – I never quite jumped on board the water-toting culture. Yes, I have a water bottle at my desk, but that’s more to keep me from spilling it all over. Still, after three weeks in, I am way more thirsty than I ever was before.

3. Sleep Hard – I put my head on the pillow these days, and I’m asleep in less than ten minutes. On an actual training day, usually less than two minutes. I also find myself waking up less at night, and even when I have horrifying dreams (the one the other night was about the onset of nuclear war being the diversion used for someone to abduct my children, and then me having to go through a nightmare fun house to get them back), I can get back to sleep.

4. Drawn to Healthier Foods –  I’ve actually found myself far more inclined to choose healthy foods. Like, it’s not an effort. And when DH mentioned going out to eat, I sort of shrugged. I’d rather a home-cooked meal I didn’t have to cook (let me know where you can find of those). I’ve wanted veggies and fruit. Meat cooked well without a lot of salt and sauces. We’ll see if this holds…

5. My Body Misses Exercising – I’ve seen this before with walking, so I wasn’t as surprised, but my body genuinely misses working out. I may not be much inclined some days, but when I don’t, I really feel it.

6. Not as Young as I Used to Be – This has really been brought home to me. Recovery time, at least at first, has been longer than it was eight years ago. I’ve also had to modify some exercises. I can’t apply weight to a bent wrist after an injury I sustained five years back. I have to be very careful of certain exercises like lunges on the foot I broke last year. My pride may feel a bit wounded, but better that than an injury.

 

How about you? Have you ever incorporated strength training into your exercise? Do you now? Do you like it? Hate it? Any thoughts for someone restarting it again?

 

My Legs Are Made Out of Jelly

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I started strength training approximately ten years ago. Then, we decided to have children. Between issues with pregnancy and finally having a squalling if amazing baby, I quit lifting.

Yes, I know how important it is. For general wellness and doing things like spreading mulch, and but also to prevent osteoporosis. This disease is big deal in my family, made all the worse by where I’ve lived most of my life.

Per my endocrinologist, the closer to the equator you are, the less likely you are to develop it. Having lived in the north of the US most of my life has increased my likelihood of the disease quite a bit. Things like strength training can help decrease it.

Back before children, I went straight to the gym after work. Eventually, we put a home gym in, and I went to that as soon as I got home from work.

So, I tried that again. Simply coming home, throwing on my gear, and heading to the basement. But it was almost impossible to get there. My daughters wanted, needed, my attention. They hadn’t seen me all day and missed me. How could I possibly walk past my toddler holding her arms out to me with a grin on her face as she says, “Momma, momma, momma!”

w1
Don’t forget to add writing!

That leaves mornings before they get up and evenings after they go to bed. I am not much of a morning person, but I learned very quickly I don’t have enough energy left to start any kind of exercise after they are in bed.

Setting aside my lack of being a morning person, morning is doubly hard for strength training as you’re supposed to be awake for an hour before you start lifting to help prevent injury. I haven’t been in my indestructible twenties for a long time. Injury is most assuredly a thing that happens to people at my age.

So, I decided to tweak my work schedule and work on strength two days a week at lunch and one day on the weekend. I reviewed my old workout plan, modified a few things to take into account my current physical state, and implemented it.

After strength training for the first time in almost seven years, I’ve discovered just how hard stairs can be to climb.

w2

My legs feel like jelly and my arms don’t want to lift off the keyboard. I hadn’t thought I’d overdone the workout, but apparently even body-weight push-ups on an incline are hard after seven years. Really hard.

Beyond moving with the stiff gait of the walking dead, the other thing I noticed was how hungry I was.  I mean hungry. Not just in the it’s almost time for dinner hungry. But genuinely hungry. I had an apple in the afternoon and later a Kind bar. I was still hungry when I got home. I snacked on some fruit and a bit of beef jerky and devoured dinner. I was still hungry.

At this point, I was starting to feel like the very hungry caterpillar.

We normally don’t keep snacks in the house because if you don’t have them, it doesn’t take much willpower not to eat them. I was so hungry by eight o’clock that I had a headache.

I ended up finding my stash of frozen custard and plowed through it. I’d love to justify it by saying it was chocolate custard with raspberries in it, so clearly it couldn’t be so bad. But there’s no point. I knew how bad it was while I was eating it and didn’t care. I was hungry and this was finally helping me feel full.

w3

So, while strength training may help build some strength and some bones, I need to figure out a way to deal with this spike in hunger. I’m hoping it’s just temporary while my body gets used to the new demands being made on this desk jockey.

On the positive side, I had no trouble falling asleep. Literally, I don’t think my head was on the pillow for thirty seconds before I was sound asleep. I also slept the whole night, and when a nightmare woke me up, as they do, I rolled over and was back asleep in less than a minute.

 

How about you? Ever started a strength training routine? How’d it go? Any tips? Or maybe you over did some gardening or other work and paid for it the next morning? Any tips on how you coped?