When I get stuck in a rut, physically, mentally, or spiritually, the thing that gets me unstuck best is to go outside…outside of my house, outside of my routines, outside of my comfortable thinking. Getting outside of me gives me a fresh perspective and outlook on life. When I exercise outside and breathe deeply of the crisp morning air, I expose myself, my physical and spiritual body, to the natural elements of the earth. It is then that I realize how very connected I am to the earth, and to its mysteries and rhythms. I reap much physical and emotional energy from trekking outdoors. By going outside, my muscles and my mind must work in unison as I forge against hill and dale, sun and wind, smooth and rough, road and trail.

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Similarly, when I get stuck in a mental rut I find it helpful to get outside of my own head and give my mind new places to roam. Reading authors and genres to which I do not normally gravitate gives me fresh perspectives and insights into how others think and perceive. Changing things up when it comes to music, movies, and food provides similar benefits. I like to think of going ‘outside’ of myself as a way to inoculate myself from the dread condition of stagnancy; to be stagnant is to be unchanged and unchanging…it is so nearly like death. And so anytime I need some creative flow, or whenever I’m feeling the blues of status quo, I try to mix things up for myself. I try to get outside of my normal, whatever that may be, which I have so carefully set up around my life and I open a door and go outside…for a change.