Crosstraining Our Brains, Or What We Did On Our June "Vacation," Part II

Or, "Why I Won't Be Tweeting Any More on Tuesdays."

Beans' June no-blogging vacation included the heavenly experience of a five-day art retreat way up in the way-north Idaho panhandle. Gloriousness. Five days of being with friends, and friends-of-friends. Relaxing. Art-ing. Rejuvenating. In a retreat space where we cooked for each other, spread our work out and didn't have to put it away, got to nap at "Hammock Haven" by the pond. Got into and stayed in our 'jammies as long as we wanted. Wrote and art-ed and laughed.

There was only one problem.

NO INTERNET.

I've been on Twitter as @tamholland since the end of March. (Follow me! I will follow you back!) And as you've heard here, and for so many reasons, I am completely in love with Twitter. Indeed, as of this minute, I have posted 4,125 tweets.

What happens when you take Twitter away from a person who tweets roughly 30 times a day?

I'll tell you what. Half-way through the five days of art camp, you beg your friends to drive you back down the dirt roads into civilization to find some place with wi-fi. And while your friends-who-are-not-on-Twitter take a two-hour jaunt to craft-supply and fabric stores, you sit in the Sandpoint, Idaho Starbucks clicking and typing as fast as you can, answering your e-mail AND GETTING YOUR TWEET ON.

Because why? Because you miss your "tweeps!!!" (Your friends on Twitter.) And you want to see what they've been up to, where they've been going, what they're going through. Also, when you've developed your own writing ritual of crafting 140-character slices-of-life and sending them out into the world -- where people write you back! -- you kinda feel like you need to keep doing it. And it's great for business. And it's just plain old darned FUN.

Then . . . during the remaining two and a half days at art camp . . . I was flooded with inspiration for new products. I got stunning amounts of writing done -- much more than I would have in the same time at home. Got eight to ten great hours of sleep a night. And still had time to talk and visit with friends. Cook. Exercise. Nap. Read. Peruse books of images for even more new products.

What can we learn from this?

That both -- technological connectivity, and time away from it -- are incredibly fruitful when it comes to creativity. In the balance of getting to reconnect with tweeps and being plugged into that world . . . and then in retreating from it for a while . . . my creative fires were fanned.

I should already know this. Since the beginning of the year, I've been practicing "1979 Saturdays," where my computer(s) and iphone are turned off on Friday night, and don't get turned on again til Sunday morning. It is always a great, rejuvenating, interesting day of the week.

This Sabbath-sort-of practice was inspired by William Power's Hamlet's Blackberry. In his wonderful book, Powers (or, @HamletsBB) shows how humans -- back to ancient Greeks -- have best responded to technological innovations: by balancing use of, and rest from, them. This allows our spirits and brains to experience the benefits the new technology provides, and then provides our spirits and brains with the downtime they need to cogitate, rest, assimilate the new things and ways they are learning via the new technology. Powers also chronicles his family's way of practicing this on/off: by turning off all screens for the whole weekend.

There's another reason I should already know this sort of balance works: from CrossFit. I know that constantly-varied exercise programs do the best job of getting and keeping us in good shape. You do heavy weight exercises. Then you do no-weight exercises. You run fast and short. Then you run slower and longer. In other words, you mix it up. You don't stay in the same groove all the time. Changing things up promotes growth.

The intensity of the art camp contrast has me convinced: logging on and logging off are good things. Together. Both. Not just one. Always being plugged in is no good. Neither is always being on retreat from modern connectivity. Both activities are stimulating, in their own ways. Put them together in your life, and you've got something powerful going on.

All of which is to say: I'm not going to be tweeting on Tuesdays any more. Will be adding this bit of retreat to "1979 Saturdays" as another day of crosstraining my brain. My brain could use it :)