How Do You Recharge?

How do you recharge? 

For weeks I was feeling completely run down, but pressed on because I simply had to - exciting deadline looming: my album launch of Do It While You Can.  There was lots of work to do, lots of pressure to get it right. Pushed myself HARD. Really hard. And finally, once the performance was over - I felt TIRED. So tired, I felt like I could sleep for a week (or five) but knew that wasn't really an option. Knew there were plenty of other important dates coming up, that the workload was only just beginning - and that if I wasn't careful, I simply wouldn't recharge at all - I'd just carry on working. Ever had that feeling? That you are so absorbed and excited by whatever it is that you are doing, that you just don't notice the time passing? When you don't want to stop (and don't stop) even when you are totally wiped out, slowing down and really ought to have a breather? It is exhilarating... and EXHAUSTING! 

Don't get me wrong, it is absolutely awesome to have a job that I love so much. I have done a million different things in the past, to varying degrees of success (I got fired from THREE waitressing jobs, for example), and this is it. I truly love being a singer, performing and working in the music business.  New ideas are always flying around, there are a million directions to go in, it's very, very exciting… on the downside, I forget to eat. I forget to sleep. I forget to relax! 

Note: If you have found a job you love, congratulations!!! Rock on.  If you haven't, don't give up looking. Make sure you are keeping the wolves from the door - DON'T give up your day job, not unless you really can afford to, or have found another job which is more like what you want to be doing - but make the time to keep searching for the things that really make you tick. (Good read: 'Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity' by Hugh MacLeod). Sometimes trial and error is the only way. The vast majority of us have to work for a living - so find what you love to do. It is more satisfying than anything else on the planet!!! 

Rule of thumb: if it feels wrong, it IS wrong. 

Anyway I digress! Back to recharging. 

For more than ten years, I have been living in the massive, spectacular, relentless city of London - and occasionally, it just gets too much. I miss trees. And fields. And especially - and above all else - the ocean. I grew up by the ocean. The ocean is the one place - whichever ocean it is - where I know I can recharge, refuel, and return to my daily life feeling super-relaxed and ready to get back into the swing. WHERE IS YOUR REFUGE? 

Whenever anything big has happened in my life - massive, life-altering choices, stressful times, sad times, hectic times - I escape to the sea. Even a few hours on a beach, or by the ocean, walking, near the water - seeing the waves, the surf, the reflection of the sun on the water - smelling the salty sea air and hearing the gulls - is enough - even for a few hours - to bring me back down to earth. To reconnect me to the world, to ground me, to allow me to escape everything for just a little while. 

It amazes me just how effective one day of escape can be. One day. One day away from yourself. Away from your daily grind, whatever that grind may be, is enough to rejuvenate just a little bit. To recharge your battery so that you can enjoy that daily world again. 

I am all about these little escapes! 

I remember reading about 'artist's dates' in the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron - where you take yourself to a museum, or a walk, somewhere you can be gently lured away from the nagging everyday thoughts that keep you from feeling creative. I had been taking myself on these 'dates' for a long while before reading about this concept - but it really, really works. When things are too much, and you're too exhausted but you just can't stop - STOP.  (You CAN stop. Really!!!). But I guess what I'm getting at is: it's not just about creativity. It's not just about writing a play, or starting a novel, or creating a work of art. It's about living your life. LIVING YOUR LIFE. Remembering to look up from the screen now and again, to take a deep breath in and out. To stand up, walk a few feet away, and look at things from a different perspective. It really works. And it breathes new life, new vitality, into everything you do. You come back fresher, more awake, more alive and ready to dig back in to whatever it is you spend your time doing. 

I realise this may seem impossible in your particular situation: be it kids, partners, work schedules, play dates, lack of funds, lack of WHATEVER. The fact is: you need to make the time. Even an hour (or ten minutes !!!!) of doing something completely unrelated to whatever you  are currently absorbed in will help you to recharge. If you are still saying 'it can't happen, there's no chance' - sorry, but that's YOU telling yourself you can't. You have decided to perceive that your situation is utterly inflexible - your opinion. You make up your own reality. FACT. Find the time. You will be a happier person if you do.

A few days ago, I was exhausted - had just launched Do It While You Can, my new album, and had been working my butt off for months and months - and felt like I needed to sleep for WEEKS to recover. And.. instead of doing that - because, frankly, I was too tired to actually sleep - I took a day off. I turned off my phones, I did NOT check facebook, or twitter, or even my emails - I went 'off the grid' as a friend of mine calls it. And man, it was GREAT. I took one day, hopped in the car after a nice long lie-in, and drove to the sea. One of my favourite places on earth: Birling Gap, near Seven Sisters Country Park, in Sussex. Some of the most beautiful coastline in the world! It took a while to get there, but I really enjoyed the drive - the scenery as it changed from city to country, the rolling hills and trees, hedgerows and gorgeous villages of Kent, then Sussex. Finally arrived at the car park, added about a million extra layers of clothing (it was FOUR DEGREES with 12-15mph winds. Brrrrrrr!!!!!) and then I went for a lovely, long walk along the cliffs. Over one hour to the east, along the top of the cliffs, past two lighthouses, with a constant view of the sea - and no one for company except the occasional, brave seagull (too cold for them too, I reckon!) then an hour back - and caught the sunset for the entire way back. It was invigorating, FREEZING, and totally cleared my head. When I arrived back at the car park, I headed down to the beach itself, went for a stroll along the rocks and got some gorgeous photos of the sun going down. I was so glad I had four layers of clothing on, because it was really cold - but frankly, the scenery was so spectacular I wouldn't have noticed too much if I had been freezing! 

Anyway, the plan was to find somewhere for a nice meal on the way back. Having spent the entire afternoon wandering the gorgeous coastline, I headed back North towards (eventually) London - had an amazing pub meal at The Hare in Tunbridge Wells (courtesy of a few minutes googling from the safety and warmth of the car after my walk! http://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/hare/), and eventually found myself back home in London. And I felt amazing, totally recharged! Slept wonderfully that night, and woke up raring to go! 

How do you recharge? You've got to Do It While You Can! xx