Peace, Tranquility, and Productiveness

What brings you peace?

When I think about what brings me peace, I think of music, water, reading and spending time with family.

I love to listen to music, to make music, and to perform. I was raised by two musicians (who made their money as music educators). Our house was filled with sounds of the piano, people practicing trumpet or saxophone, singing , and my parents’ tense voices as they prepared for a concert.

When I am feeling peaceful, I play piano. When I am anxious, I play piano. I find playing piano one of the better ways to de-stress and to make music.

I learned to play guitar when I was in graduate school. I knew a few chords from taking guitar lessons in elementary, and recently took a month’s worth of weekly lessons to try to improve my skills. It is easier to sing and play guitar than it is for me to play piano and sing, so that is another way I find peace.

Water brings me peace. I really enjoy reading my kindle by the pool in the summer, and will read just about any chance I get. I love to escape to other places, with other individuals and families, through reading. Kayaking is another thing which brings me peace. Kayaking on the water in the morning is truly peaceful to me.

Finally, I enjoy reading for information. My office is full of books that I am in the process of reading, particularly about ADHD, Autism, Eating Disorders, and Trauma.

I find that reading to learn is a different experience for me. When I am learning, I prefer to read real, actual books as opposed to the electronic books I read for fun. I like to flip through books I am reading to learn from, and skip ahead to parts that interest me.

A book I am currently reading for work is ‘Running on Empty’ by Janice Webb, PhD. It is a book about ‘Overcoming Your Childhood Emotional Neglect’, and was recommended to me recently. It is a nice, easy read and helps me understand some of the history of people I meet with.

What do you find peaceful?

What is something that you look forward to doing as you have the time to do it? What do you make time for on a week you might be really busy?

How would your friends or family answer that question for you?

I’m an ambivert, which means I fall just between extroverted and introverted. I love to be around people, but also love downtime and quiet time. Because of this, being with family also helps me find peace.

I just returned from a Thanksgiving trip to Madison, Wisconsin to see my kids and my son’s fiancée. Seeing my kids definitely gives me peace, and is something I look forward to in the weeks leading up to visits with them. While there, we play a board game called ‘Catan’, which is one of my favorite games.

Being peaceful tends to help me with productivity.

For me, being productive at work includes being in session, preparing for sessions, writing notes about sessions, and reading to learn. I also participate in consultations with other therapists on a bi-weekly basis.

At home, being productive includes creativity. I am currently working on some training sessions I will be providing to my friend’s practice. I am working to combine my creativity with planning the sessions by utilizing markers and colors to help me plan.

Of course work around the house, exercise which includes Pilates, and taking time for friends and family is also included with being productive.

Even downtime, which for me looks like reading or watching television, is important to my peacefulness and productivity.

What helps with your productiveness?

In what areas are you working to increase your productivity and your ability to have both busy times and downtimes?

I hope you get some peaceful productive time today.