Open Sky Stories

These notebooks are designed to capture your story; your journey of breakage and repair. Available for $15, plus shipping (free ptbo delivery). Visit my stories shop for details. Link in comments .

Regardless of your writing genre, there are pieces of you that live inside your work. What a treasure for your readers.

Welcome to Postcard Stories: fully prompted, slightly twisted. This unique set of postcards includes 5 theme-based writing activities printed on real postcards. "Wow I took a much deeper look at things than usual" https://etsy.me/3tQHtIt #etsy #openskystories

Today I invite you to write a list of 20 things that help you feel rested. Twenty might feel like a lot but just see what you can come up with. Consider activities, environments, people and even colours or smells or sounds. Yesterday I wrote about the importance of rest, for my business and my general well-being. I treat rest as a valuable resource and I do not subscribe to the hustle and busy as a status symbol philosophy. ... Once you have your list, go through and circle anything that you’ve experienced recently. What does that tell you? Continue writing about your discoveries. Was there anything that came up that surprised you? If you don’t already, how can you make rest more of a priority? If you go off track, that’s perfectly fine, this activity is for you and you’ll know where to move with it. Trust yourself. You’ve got this. Let’s write!

I’ve spent most of the last two days right here on my back deck under the gazebo letting my body and my mind rest. I worked off and on, made good use the clothesline and walked downtown for some errands. But mostly I rested. ... I am a firm believer that rest produces higher dividends than hustle. At least in my business. When I lose myself in a book, I learn about character development and plot lines and tension. When I soak in a hot bath, I come out with wrinkly fingers and the solution to a logistics problem that failed me while staring at a computer screen. When I stare up at the sky, my mind is transported into a realm of limitless possibilities. When I go outside for a walk, I find inspiration in every nook and cranny I pass. And I am reminded that there is a real world out there, existing in 3-D form. When Lucy lies on top of me, the vibration of her purrs provides a healing energy that goes straight to my soul. I don’t get any of that from hustle. I just get exhausted from hustle. I can’t be creative in hustle. And I don’t feel authentic in hustle. I run my business in alignment with my own values. I make decisions based how I want to feel, more than how much money I want earn or how many followers I want to have. I do work hard and sometimes I overcommit myself and feel stretched. And especially now, since I rely on earning an income from Open Sky Stories to support my family, I’ve felt a bit more pressure to succeed. But I know that I’ll only truly succeed if I rest. Take time to like ideas and inspiration take form. Look after my body, which has always looked after me. And soak in the feline vibrations and a fair amount of cat drool. How do you find rest?