Category: Self-Care

Rooted in Wonder: The Gift of Creative Rest

On By Broken Walls Crushed SidewalksIn Christian Living, Devotionals, Faith and Spiritual Growth, Grace and Ground Series, Rooted in Worth, Self-CareLeave a comment

Ever Thought Daydreaming Was Laziness? Think Again.

Ever caught yourself staring into a campfire or enjoying a sunset and thought, “I’m wasting time”? Science—and Scripture—say otherwise. Those quiet, seemingly idle moments are not wasted; they’re powerful. Your brain might actually be at its most productive best, building curiosity, problem-solving skills, and higher-order thinking.

This is what experts call creative rest, and it’s far from laziness—it’s a God-designed blessing that fuels innovation and inspiration.

What Is Creative Rest?

Creative rest is the intentional pause that allows your mind to reconnect with beauty, wonder, and inspiration. It’s not about doing nothing; it’s about creating space for your imagination to breathe. Unlike mental rest, which focuses on reducing cognitive overload, it gives your brain a break from processing information. Creative rest invites you to engage with environments and experiences that spark curiosity and joy.

Key Difference:

  • Mental Rest: Clears mental clutter, often through silence, meditation, or short breaks.
  • Creative Rest: Stimulates imagination by exposing you to beauty, nature, art, or new perspectives.

Why Creative Rest Matters

“Immersion in natural settings
improves creative reasoning
by up to 50%”

(Atchley et al., 2012)

Research backs up the power of creative rest:

  • Creative individuals are more associative and engaged with their idle thoughts, which means downtime can lead to innovative ideas (Fink et al., 2024).
  • Immersion in natural settings improves creative reasoning by up to 50%, showing that disconnecting from screens and reconnecting with nature is a proven creativity booster (Atchley et al., 2012).

Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith explains:

“This type of rest is especially important for anyone who must solve problems or brainstorm new ideas. Creative rest reawakens the awe and wonder inside each of us … Allowing yourself to take in the beauty of the outdoors — even if it’s at a local park or in your backyard — provides you with creative rest.” (Dalton-Smith, n.d.)

Practical Tips to Enhance Creative Rest

  1. Step Outside Daily
    Take a walk in a park, sit in your backyard, or simply gaze at the sky. Nature restores your sense of wonder.
  2. Curate Beauty Indoors
    Surround yourself with art, music, or even photographs that inspire you. Visual stimulation can spark fresh ideas.
  3. Schedule “Idle Time”
    Block out time for daydreaming. Let your mind wander without guilt—this is where associative thinking thrives.
  4. Disconnect to Reconnect
    Turn off notifications and spend time away from screens. Silence and simplicity create mental space for creativity.
  5. Engage in Play
    Try a hobby that feels fun and non-productive—painting, gardening, or playing an instrument. Play fuels imagination.

A Personal Reflection

The next time I start down that path of self-negativity for absently staring into the campfire or enjoying the beauty of a sunset, I’ll remind myself that my brain is actually working very hard while I enjoy the break. What I once labeled as “laziness” is, in fact, a divine gift—a moment where creativity is quietly taking root.

References

Atchley, R. A., Strayer, D. L., & Atchley, P. (2012). Creativity in the wild: Improving creative reasoning through immersion in natural settings. PLOS ONE, 7(12), e51474. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051474

Dalton-Smith, S. (n.d.). Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity. FaithWords.

Fink, A., Rominger, C., Benedek, M., & Papousek, I. (2024). Creative minds at rest: Creative individuals are more associative and engaged with their idle thoughts. Creativity Research Journal, 36(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2023.2171234

Love and Belonging

On By Broken Walls Crushed SidewalksIn Belonging, Love, Self-Care, Uncategorized1 Comment

Brene’ Brown, said that you can never love others more than you love yourself; not even our children. As I sit and let that thought thump around in my brain for a while another thought develops. I think if it’s their life or mine on the line then without question I choose their life to protect. But if it’s in the day to day stuff that most of us deal with then perhaps Brene’ is right. She provides an example of a child coming home from school upset because no one sat with her at lunch. This event triggers in mom unconscious feelings of when she felt left out of the group at school and so responds to her daughter by saying something about combing her hair and dressing better.

Mom had never processed her own thoughts of self-blame and feelings of being unlovable. Therefore, she was unable to demonstrate to her daughter unconditional love in that instance. Now, I believe, if someone were to have asked mom in this instance if she loved her daughter unconditionally she would without hesitation say yes. And if mom had been able to slow down the process she would have absolutely responded with a hug acknowledging hurt feelings and said, “you are perfect the way you are whether or not the others in your class recognize it.”

Maybe this example doesn’t resonant with you but there are a thousand of other scenarios where this could absolutely play out. And it doesn’t just play out in our relationships with our children but in all of our relationships.

Where does this sense of love and belonging originate? For most of us, it is imperfectly played out in our families of origin. But as none of our predecessors have experienced perfect unconditional love they were unable to demonstrate such a love to us. And we are unable to perfectly demonstrate it to those with whom we are in relationship. So, again, where does this sense of love and belonging originate in our individual lives?

For me, it’s recognizing that I am loved by a God that sent his Son to die so that I might choose to accept the love he unconditionally provides me. It’s believerlasting loveeving that this God that sent his Son knows me so well that he can tell me how many hairs are on my head at any given moment (Luke 12:7 NIV®). It’s knowing that God knows when I’m being productive and when I’m being unproductive; He knows when my thoughts drift away from him (Psalm 139:2 NLT). Yet, he says “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3) whether anyone else chooses to sit with you at lunch or not.

So when that ugly feeling of being unloveable wells up inside of me causing me to lash out at others, I will work to slow down the process and remind myself that I am loved regardless of what is going on around or in me.

The Struggle Continues -Week 2 Self-Care the Big 3

On By Broken Walls Crushed SidewalksIn Health living, Self-CareLeave a comment

canstockphoto3876862So, during this past week the battle has been to push through cravings and to be satisfied with the small changes I’m making.  I have not felt deprived through the week and have actually been somewhat surprised that I have not missed soda.  However, Friday & Saturday I was feeling a little deprived.  Part of me has been feeling like having a soda would be “no big deal” and “I deserve to be able to have a soda.”  I’ve identified a trigger of eating snacks/pastries.  Which seems a little strange since I’m really not a big pastries person.  However, I think in the past, when I have eaten pastries, I washed it down with a soda.  It just seemed a natural go together.

Since for the most part during the week, it hasn’t felt like a big sacrifice to forgo soda and add healthier foods, I’ve felt I wasn’t doing enough.  Is there a feeling that I need to punish myself to succeed?  or is it that I feel it needs to be more difficult?  Old patterns of all or nothing seem to be competing with establishing new patterns of moving slower.  As I stated above, this weekend the cravings have increased but so far, I have been able to resist.  I wonder, if I had let the old patterns take over, if I would have given into the cravings by being overwhelmed with the task.

The war this week has been about maintaining and keeping to the small achievable goals as opposed to setting larger goals.  It’s been more difficult this week to sit with the cravings.  It’s also been difficult to be satisfied with setting smaller goals.  I frequently find myself saying that I’m not doing enough to make a real difference.  I have to constantly remind myself that this is only the beginning.