This week, as Drake says, I “started from the bottom.” Four weeks in, I started “weight lifting” in physical therapy with my therapist and former competitive gymnast Elena Vaynshtok.
I literally started with 1lb! I had to lie on my back holding a 1lb bar over my chest like a bench and extend it back over my head for three sets of 10. I have to say – it was a little tiring. I don’t recall any time in my life where I used a 1lb weight for anything. Couldn’t believe it. My ego has been receiving a major beatdown 🙂
I found myself chuckling at the fact I was previously climbing a rope and now just holding 1lb. We also did forearm press-ups with chin tucks and downward scapula movements. My triceps were on fire. It was such a struggle but felt good that I’ve gotten to this point. I was involuntarily smiling from learning the basics and the fact that my arm’s range of motion has begun to get better.
I recently came an interesting quote by The Rambam saying that:
“Maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of G‑d’s service, for one cannot understand or have any knowledge of the Creator if one is ill.”
I remember that before surgery my morning routine often consisted of exercise and then prayer at Chabad before getting into work. I found that first waking up my body to ignite my mind would get me into the best mindset to start the day. Upon completion it feels like holding a greyhound back whose ready to takeoff before the race gun goes off. This also helped me begin to formulate my own personal philosophy to increasing my creativity. I strive to spend more time working to center myself into a receptive mindset through the combination exercise and prayer. Then, the remainder of the time is spent actually grinding through the “writers block” aspect of creativity. I often find that the foundations for my solutions to creative problems come to me when I’m doing something different. While it does not always work out like this, the success rate for me is above average which leads me to another quote I really love by the artist Chuck Close:
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightening to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.”
I agree that waiting around is bad. However, the hard work for me begins by creating that clear mental space. Once a tiny seed idea is planted, it has to be cultivated. The process that follows is obviously just as important to the work you do from square one. It’s even more important, if not most important, to remember where the source of the ideas come from. If you can start from this point of gratefulness in the early morning before sun rise, then I can guarantee that the process will unfold itself. Trust that process, even if you have to sweat a little extra at your work desk, which I have done plenty of times.
Sometimes starting fresh means razing the field. I’ve learned so much about just how important proper posture and movement are to your overall health which really increases vitality. Align your spine, align your spirit. Fitness for the right reasons, and tefilah (Herew for prayer) to instill gratefulness in yourself are the way to go. Easier said than done, but Gd willing these foundations can lay the groundwork for you to build up with the proper framework and be receptive to abundant creativity.
