Hello Roses,

I decided that last Friday I would take the day off work. “Day off from what?!” my inner voice kept saying, but I ignored her, and I am currently writing this in a spa.

Sat in the spa, I also have a great book with me called Self Care for the Real World. It has tips and tricks to help you get the most out of yourself from food and drink recipies to yoga exercises and meditation techniques. I’m a self confessed workaholic. I feel guilty whenever I am not working, hence sitting here in the spa on my day off, working. My main reason for taking the day off was to recharge my creativity battery. I feel as though the more content we consume, the more it suppresses our own. There are so many distractions to navigate before I actually start working it's like a checklist of everything on the ‘not-to-do-to-do-list’! I feel exhausted before I even begin.

Creativity and innovation comes in waves, but we need to be ready to catch and ride the wave when it arrives instead of being three mutual friends deep in Instagram wondering how her hair is so shiny and if one day you might get to meet her to ask. Being a creative person and seeing a lack of creativity waves feels slightly uneasy but having not looked at my phone for hours, I can already feel it coming back.

I think it’s only natural to lose your way at times, feeling like you are lost in your own journey crowded by too many thoughts and plans that you have lost clarity. Once you realise this situation, you (like I did) can take yourself out of it for a while to refocus. Grab a new lens, rotate the dial to zoom out a bit and look down at the seeds you have planted, some shooting into great trees, others still on their way up. This exercise can make you realise what you have already done, and what else you still need to do. I think it’s really worth noting that rest and reflection are just as important as taking action. Many times, the most actionable tasks can be thought of in a moment of quiet reflection.

I was sold the story of hustle 24/7 in order to be successful. But it’s becoming more obvious that we can only do our very best work if our mind and body are at their very best too. The connected world makes this difficult. Comparing yourself with everyone else can be an instant mood killer, and if that happens as soon as you wake up, then it’s not going to be the most productive day. In the same breath however, there are some extremely motivating stories and individuals we can all connect with in an instant which boosts our mood. It’s all about how you manage the distractions to make them work for you, so that you can work at your best.

It’s more than okay to take a break every now and again, in fact it’s probably necessary. If you’re anything like me, you’d be programmed to think staying still means you’re not moving forward but it’s quite the opposite. Just like a catapult in a slingshot, sometimes we need to be pulled backwards in order to propel ourselves forwards again.

So, leave your phone at home, grab a surf board and be ready to ride that wave of inspiration for you never know what could be waiting for you when you come into shore. The world doesn’t run out of waves, just as you won’t run out of ideas. You must learn to keep your balance and continue going forwards.

Lots of love,

Em x