My hands ached.  Not any agonizing ache that  kept me awake.  My hands, were tired from working.  (And probably politically incorrect work.  Therefore, I shall choose not to elaborate on specifics of my labors, just yet.)

I will leave you with only the knowledge that my hands were spent.

My feet too.  And my sunburned arms itched.  Okay, perhaps I will lead up to some specifics of my labors along the way.

We, my two girls and I, started early in the morning destroying noxious weeds.  They played for the early hours of the morning while it was cool.  Then helped Mom until the sun climbed higher in the sky.

We worked in the warm sun, with a cool breeze blowing, broke for lunch,

Labor for Creativity

then went right back to our chore of waging war against the invaders: chopping, pulling and spraying. (Yes, with poison.  Which leaves room for my politically incorrect stance on weeds.)

We will not know who the winners are, of this battle, for weeks.  Chances are, though, we’ve barely made a scratch in the Canadian Thistle alien-immigration. (Once again, I’m stretching my political limits.)

This day was a productive, and not only because my girls and I massacred hundreds of thistle, but because I realized a huge lesson in the source of creativity and productivity.

Initially, as I tackled the thistle war, I was discouraged once again in not having this time for other more creative endeavors.  And as the day progressed I feared that I wouldn’t have energy, spirit nor desire to spare.

My body was tired, but weary in a good way.   Because of the physical activity, my body, as well as my mind, benefited.

Though, I am, or once was an RN.  I will not bore you with a lecture on keeping fit.  (I’m not saying, however, that I won’t at a later date.)

The Physical Benefits of Physical Activity

1. Weight Control
2. Combating disease
3. Boost Endurance
4. Improve Muscle Strength

The Mental Benefits of Physical Activity

1. Improves Mood
2. Stimulates Brain chemicals
3. Promotes Better Sleep, Confidence & Self-esteem

*According to The Mayo Clinic, “Exercise and or physical activity of at least 30 min every day is recommended.”  Physical activity is a general description that definitely includes chopping thistles.

The final and most significant outcome, of this day’s work, was my heightened creativity.  I shall give some of the credit of my motivated productivity to the hours that I was immersed in the music of my favorite artist.

I honestly can not remember the last time that I spent so much, uninterrupted, time singing; I don’t believe it natural to have so much fun killing weeds.  And I have never had so much fun writing, and writing well into the night.

As I wrote this blog-post, I became very curious of this correlation of physical activity and creativity and did a little digging.  The nuts and bolts of my study:

A study of Aerobic Exercise and Cognitive Creativity: Immediate and Residual Effects, for Creativity Research Journal at  Rhode Island College indicates:
Instances of aerobic exercise significantly impacted the creative processes of the participants, and these effects  endured over a two-hour period, this study reports correlations between aerobic exercise and creative output rather than forwarding causal mechanisms underlying creative processes.

And in English:  This study’s results suggest that aerobic workouts have potential benefits in aiding creativity processes, and potentially provides tangible improvements to creative productivity.

You science freaks can read the complete writeup here: http://www.ric.edu/faculty/dblanchette/ExerciseArticle.htm

This is not a lecture on getting fit, nor staying active.  Everyone knows where to go for that.  Here, though, I give it to you like it is:

This is life, and there are weeds.   And in the process of accomplishing any such elementary chore as killing thistle;, creativity is heightened from the physical exertion.

And though my chores are never complete, they are fueling my creativity. 

I hope that you will subscribe here to my cheering squad as I weed through the grammatical corrections of “Big Horn Catchmequick.”