I saw this infographic this morning and loved it:
source (I am not promoting CottageCountry or The David Suzuki Foundation in any way. I literally know nothing about them. I simply thought the infographic was share-worthy.)
My thoughts this morning:
Writing, blogging, networking - they all mandate vast quantities indoor, sedentary activity - and writing is what I do. I am certainly among those spending 95% of my day indoors or in a vehicle, especially since I'm such a pansy about temperatures above 80°F.
I also know that I love outside. I love hard wind and hard rain. I like mountains and hiking mountains, rivers and canoeing on rivers.
My question to myself this morning is, how do I get more outside in my life? What can go? What can change?
- The first part of the answer, I believe, is intentionality. It must matter enough to plan it, or it will always be a lovely thought for "tomorrow."
- The second part is saying no to other things that vie for my time.
- Then at some point there's Nike's "Just Do It."
Maybe I'll start waking up earlier. (How is that even possible?) Maybe I'll write at night when the kids go to bed. (Then where does my time with Dan fit?) Maybe I'll have to suck it up and pay a teenager in beans and brownies to watch my kids while I write - uninterrupted - for a day, leaving the rest of my week freer.
I have no idea how this works, because the time comes from somewhere. It has to. It's like those water displacement experiments in the 6th grade - you drop in a cube and the water comes out in exactly equal measure. Time is a limited resource; it will come from somewhere.
All I know is that my insides are aching for outside.
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Also, how interesting does this book look!? (Very interesting.)
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So how do you do it? How do you get outside on a regular basis?