At year's end
One more day until we see 2016 out and 2017 in.
It's winter here in the northern hemisphere. Although today it's bright and sunny and rather warm (47F) where I am in Japan, the days are still short, and the rice fields are brown. We are a few months away from the green of spring.
This week is the traditional Japanese "spring cleaning". I'm exhausted from work, but it feels great to have the windows washed, the floors cleaned, and extraneous things pitched in the last trash pickup for the year. The food for the New Year's Day feast will have been prepared so that there is nothing to do Jan. 1-3 but sit back, relax, eat, and drink. We don't have a TV, but many people in Japan watch New Year's comedy shows and the day's sports event, Ekiden, which sets teams of university long-distance relay runners against one another.
As I was cleaning out a bookshelf, I came across a book, Tune Your Brain, by Elizabeth Miles, which offers suggestions as to how to use various kinds of music throughout the day to boost or lower energy and concentration levels and improve mood. The afterword has the following:
Silence
When you study music, good teachers tell you that it's the rests--the moments of silence--that define the sound.
And so it is with music in your life. Moments or hours of silence shape and strengthen the sound that they surround.... Fifteen minutes of quiet during the day renews music's power and prevents fatigue.
Quiet...is... an acceptable balance to music, speech, and noise. ...remember that it's silence that gives meaning to sound and maximizes music's impact on your life.
Is it not the same with visual art? Artists who are passionate about doing art also need to take a break from the visual stimuli. A nap, perhaps? Reading a book, cooking, taking a walk. Of course, the artist will always see possible future works in these everyday activities, but the act of rest in any form is beneficial.
If you work hard (outside of being an artist) anyway, you doubly need a break, and winter is a good time to do that. The earth is asleep, storing up the energy it will need for the coming spring when it bursts out in all its radiant colors, fragrances, and textures. As do we when we get enough rest.
Wishing you a happy holiday season... and a well-deserved rest!
