{"id":87322,"date":"2021-02-24T09:42:34","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T17:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?p=87322"},"modified":"2021-03-02T07:30:07","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T15:30:07","slug":"what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/","title":{"rendered":"What Going To The Park Daily Did For My Creativity"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

As writers, we often spend hours hunched on our desks, awaiting inspiration. I was sitting there too, staring eye-to-eye at a blank paper. It had been almost three weeks since I had written a single verse of poetry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The words just weren\u2019t coming to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even at my freelancing gig, I was stuck on an article, unsure where to begin, what to write, and how to proceed. I didn\u2019t know what to do, caught in a muddy writing slump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunting new ways of self-care for creators<\/a>, I stumbled onto research examining the impact of nature on productivity<\/a>. The paper proved that being near nature can help enhance creative ways of thinking, especially the preparation phase (ideation and\/or collecting enough information) and the incubation phase (contemplation) of the creative process<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remembered all the circular walks I used to take in the park pre-pandemic. But I hardly ever walked in stillness. I used music to drown the noise of cheering children. I decided to give the quiet-do-nothing-else-walk a shot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found a desolate park right around the block, empty of people in sunny winter afternoons. So, I took my mask, sprayed my sanitizer, and picked up my diary as I ditched the earphones. Initially, it was nothing extraordinary. I used to think about the tasks pending at home and work, plan my next hour, wonder what I\u2019ll have for dinner, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after a week or so, my mind quietened. I started noticing the different flowers, unusual leaves, and XXL trees. On an exceptionally bright day, I felt like I was a baby rocking back and forth in nature\u2019s crib. It felt therapeutic, but it didn\u2019t solve my many problems; it just temporarily flew me away from them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a couple of weeks, I became familiar with the park. My mind wandered from the neighbor\u2019s window, to the old swing set, and to a (Eureka!) moment of inspiration. I had finally landed on it! The lines of a poem simply showed their face to me. Thankfully, my optimism had allowed me to carry my diary still, and I wrote my fleeting ideas quickly. A couple of days later, I cracked that freelancing-article problem with the strongest Thor-hammer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was astonished. I was so sure that this slump might just last indefinitely. Then, I remembered what I had known all along: that nature has been a nurturer of creativity for many authors before me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Oliver<\/a> went on long walks in the early mornings with her diary. \u201cI could not be a poet without the natural world,<\/em>\u201d she said. Whitman celebrated<\/a> the natural world through his poems like  \u201cWhen Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom\u2019d<\/em>.\u201d He believed humans are a natural part of the world and will continue to be even after death. Thoreau<\/a> believed physical engagement with nature had a direct effect on a writer\u2019s prose. Atwood<\/a> advises either going to sleep or going for a walk when you\u2019re stuck on a story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know why nature has continued to birth creative inspiration to creators of all kinds. Maybe the fresh air gets us thinking in a way a static desk cannot. Maybe it is the powerful all-giving sunshine that boosts serotonin<\/a>. Or maybe it is just the simple fact that being outside can boost mental health<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the reason, it is a great way to escape, to take a short break, to spend a few minutes in leisure<\/a>. I always feel rested when I come back from my walk, yet my mind cannot stop popping new ideas or resolve the old ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I go to the park at least four times a week. But when there\u2019s too much to tackle, and a blank-paper syndrome is onto me, I know I need to walk a little longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Rochi is a staff writer at\u00a0Elite Content Marketer<\/a>\u00a0and a closet poet. If you believe there is nothing that cannot be cured by watching a F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode and relishing fresh poetry, sign up for her\u00a0weekly newsletter<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As writers, we often spend hours hunched on our desks, awaiting inspiration. I was sitting there too, staring eye-to-eye at a blank paper. It had been almost three weeks since I had written a single verse of poetry.  The words … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19059,"featured_media":87323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[45,32,9,30,7748,23],"tags":[4650,3069,66,7844,7843],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Going To The Park Daily Did For My Creativity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a couple of weeks, I became familiar with the park. My mind wandered from the neighbor\u2019s window, to the old swing set, and to a (Eureka!) moment of inspiration.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Going To The Park Daily Did For My Creativity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After a couple of weeks, I became familiar with the park. My mind wandered from the neighbor\u2019s window, to the old swing set, and to a (Eureka!) moment of inspiration.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-24T17:42:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-02T15:30:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-24-at-9.42.01-AM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"807\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"507\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rochizalani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-24-at-9.42.01-AM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-24-at-9.42.01-AM.png\",\"width\":807,\"height\":507},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/\",\"name\":\"What Going To The Park Daily Did For My Creativity\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-24T17:42:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-02T15:30:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6cafcdaedccb45157049156281bfe45b\"},\"description\":\"After a couple of weeks, I became familiar with the park. My mind wandered from the neighbor\u2019s window, to the old swing set, and to a (Eureka!) moment of inspiration.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Going To The Park Daily Did For My Creativity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6cafcdaedccb45157049156281bfe45b\",\"name\":\"rochizalani\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0ba178c29fcc313ac4bf14938e617e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0ba178c29fcc313ac4bf14938e617e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"rochizalani\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/rochizalani\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Going To The Park Daily Did For My Creativity","description":"After a couple of weeks, I became familiar with the park. My mind wandered from the neighbor\u2019s window, to the old swing set, and to a (Eureka!) moment of inspiration.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Going To The Park Daily Did For My Creativity","og_description":"After a couple of weeks, I became familiar with the park. My mind wandered from the neighbor\u2019s window, to the old swing set, and to a (Eureka!) moment of inspiration.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2021-02-24T17:42:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-02T15:30:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":807,"height":507,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-24-at-9.42.01-AM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rochizalani","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-24-at-9.42.01-AM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-24-at-9.42.01-AM.png","width":807,"height":507},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/","name":"What Going To The Park Daily Did For My Creativity","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-02-24T17:42:34+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-02T15:30:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6cafcdaedccb45157049156281bfe45b"},"description":"After a couple of weeks, I became familiar with the park. My mind wandered from the neighbor\u2019s window, to the old swing set, and to a (Eureka!) moment of inspiration.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/what-going-to-the-park-daily-did-for-my-creativity\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Going To The Park Daily Did For My Creativity"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6cafcdaedccb45157049156281bfe45b","name":"rochizalani","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0ba178c29fcc313ac4bf14938e617e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0ba178c29fcc313ac4bf14938e617e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"rochizalani"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/rochizalani\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87322"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19059"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}