I was staring at my screen again. I was waiting for another meeting to start. "Careful," said a voice inside my head, "Don't start zoning while zooming". I scribbled my thought on the side of the note pad and launched into another vision casting meeting with another non profit working hard to figure out how to move forward with all the changes and challenges of this time . When the call was done, I made space in my calendar to get out of the office.
Sitting in a kayak on the mighty Puget Sound, does make one feel small. Gliding into Eagle Harbor, away form the large ships and ferries, the smooth, calm water way created sense of relief. I felt myself relax and actually start to breath. The mask was off, since a single seat kayak makes it easy to practice socially distancing. With the soft lap of the water slapping at the kayak, I leaned back and begin to think about things with a new energy and sense of possibility. Wide open spaces with no zoom screen in sight gave my mind, body and heart a much needed break.
Zooming is a great source of technology. And who knew 'zooming' would be a noun, verb, and adjective in the year 2020?. But, zooming day after day will keep you in 'grid mode'. We now know there is a real value to being with folks and working together in the same room at the same time to solve problems.
We can help to stimulate ourselves to be a more collaborative partner if we remember that all most all of our creative thinking ' juices' come from a creative source that is activated by connecting with others and the outdoors. And right now, making sure we get out of the box (office, away from the computer screen) is vital in helping refill our 'creative juice' source.
Here is a challenge I am taking on: To look for 'out of the box' opportunities as we transition into 2021. I don't want to start 2021 all 'zoned out'.
And... while out of the box..... may we all remain in good health.