Refilling the Well by Jana Richards

In June my husband and I booked a cabin in Whiteshell Provincial Park and spent a few days golfing, lounging, and reading. And relaxing. Lots of relaxing.

He’d thought the lovely cabin we’d rented, which had air conditioning, a dishwasher, and a Jacuzzi tub (talk about roughing it!), also had WiFi, so I brought along my laptop to keep up on emails and maybe tackle some of the business of writing that keeps us writers so busy.

Wild Columbine

Turns out there was no Wifi, and barely a signal on my phone. And that turned out to be the best thing about the cabin. 

For five whole days I didn’t feel obligated to tweet, send Facebook messages (except to the Word Wranglers), or respond to emails. I can’t tell you how liberating that was. Not once did I say to myself “I should tweet something.” I didn’t realize how much the Internet ruled my life until it wasn’t there.

And I didn’t realize how much I needed a break. 

Wild Prairie Rose

It’s an understatement to say the past sixteen months have been stressful. Here in Canada and in my province of Manitoba, we’ve been on a rollercoaster of shutdowns and reopenings. We've alternated between the highs and lows of daily case counts and seven-day average testing rates. I listen obsessively to the news and tune into the weekly news conferences given by our premier and public health officials. I can probably tell you the name of every Covid-19 vaccine in the world. 

Things are once again on the upswing. Gathering sizes have increased slightly and restaurants are open for indoor dining at 25% capacity. I got my second shot of the Pfizer vaccine on July 2. Almost as important, I got my first haircut since the beginning of April on July 5. Trust me, I needed it. But I’m having a hard time believing it won’t all come crashing down and restrictions will be with us once more.  

Stop and breathe, Jana.

Wild Lady Slipper

A lot of people have had it far worse than me. Doctors, nurses and teachers, to name a few. People who have been sick with Covid. People who have lost loved ones. I feel guilty complaining, but even people like me who haven’t been directly affected by the worst aspects of the pandemic need a mental health break. 

Even in non-pandemic times, we can fail to look after ourselves both physically and mentally. In the busyness of life, we “forget” to exercise or get enough sleep. We spend so much time sitting at a computer that we develop carpel tunnel syndrome and lower back problems. We push ourselves until we have nothing left. 

Before that happens, we need to refill the well. In other words, we need to rest. We need to take the time to do the things that make us happy, the things that rejuvenate or inspire us. A writer’s creativity dries up when the well is depleted, so I have to take special care to, well, take care.  

The good news is that a lot of things refill the well. Talking to friends. Listening to music. Visiting a museum (as soon as they open again). Spending time in nature. For me, spending a few days away from the city and away from the Internet was enough to feel inspired again. It's good to stop to smell the wildflowers.

 What do you do to refill your well?