Second Cup: Something active, something creative

A formula for creating a balanced life

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to always have an athletic and a creative
interest in your life.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Doing so will.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Give you more energy and make life feel more rich.
So today's tip was inspired by a rule I have
for my own five kids past mid elementary school or so.
The children need to do something physical and something musical.

(00:46):
You can do more, and they often do, but as
they create their activity portfolio, they need to do some
sport or physical activity at all times, and they need
to play a musical instrument or sing in some sort
of ensemble. I figure that this rule will help them

(01:07):
be well rounded and build their skills and stay healthy.
This rule also just helps me as a management matter.
With five kids, that can be easy to lose sight
of whether any individual child is appropriately active and social.
But as long as every kid is doing something physical

(01:27):
and something musical, then we should be good. Anyway, as
I was describing this household rule to someone, I had
an epiphany. This is a pretty good rule for adults too.
We should all do something physical just for general health
and energy reasons. I understand not everyone is into music.

(01:50):
But if we broaden that part of the rule to
doing something artistic or otherwise creative, that seems like a
reasonable goal too. We can all look at our lives
in the portfolio of our leisure hours to make sure
we are doing something active and something creative. The active
could be anything walking or running with a friend, swimming laps,

(02:16):
taking an exercise class, lifting weights under the guidance of
a trainer, playing on a softball team. The creative part
might require a little more thought, as fewer adults build
such things into their lives on a regular basis. But
if you set this rule for yourself, it might nudge
you to think through a creative hobby. You could journal,

(02:41):
You could write stories, you could write poems. You could
do needlework or woodworking. You could design a garden. You
could paint or sketch. If you don't know how to
do something creative but have always been interested, you are
in luck, as there are hosts of YouTube video demonstrating
every skill and technique you can think of, plus ones

(03:05):
you probably haven't thought of. Either. You could find a
local studio or school and start taking classes. If you
used to play an instrument, you might be able to
rent that instrument, just like kids in school bands do,
and start playing it again. Electronic keyboards are reasonably affordable

(03:25):
if you played the piano at one time but don't
have room for a grand in your apartment. Most reasonably
sized cities have community choruses, or if you attend a
house of worship, you might look into the offerings there.
In any case, setting the goal of something active and

(03:46):
something creative will help you think about nurturing these parts
of you. Adults tend to spend most of our time
working or caring for family members, with some passive leisure
like watching TV thrown into the mix. Setting a goal
of doing something active and something creative encourages healthy choices

(04:12):
we all need to move, and it will also make
life more interesting. If a colleague asks on Monday morning
what you did over the weekend, you might think that
the answer is often nothing. But if you went on
a group bike ride on Saturday morning and played in
your string quartet on Sunday, well that is a different

(04:35):
matter entirely. You just have a lot more to think
about and talk about. If you have something active and
something creative in your life at all times. I'd love
to hear about it. You can tell me about it
at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime,

(04:59):
this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making
the most of our time.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can
send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before
Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then breakfast pod.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled

(05:35):
out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I
look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Hey, mhm.