Sunday Funday

We started 3MPH 5 years ago. In the early days we didn’t post that often. The idea was to have a place to share our new adventure. We’d both just retired and were ready to explore the Great Wide World; spend more time out in nature, enjoying the beauty that surrounds us. We’ve always enjoyed photography and writing, so we thought a blog would be the perfect medium to stretch our creative muscle and share some pictures and prose.

The last few years a rhythm developed and we began to follow a schedule. Music on Monday, Quotes on Wednesday and a blog post every Friday. In the beginning before the schedule became important, we posted whenever an idea struck. Spontaneity’s a fine attribute but routine’s not a bad thing either, it’s actually quite important, in many facets of life. Before we put the blog on a schedule we often went months without posting anything. What good’s a blog, if you never post anything?

Presently though, we’re putting posts in the que a month out, to fit a schedule. It occured to me this morning, while I was out on the bike that the whole scheduling thing goes against the grain of the 3MPH lifestyle that we’re attempting to showcase. It falls square into the “getting shit done” culture, that robbed us of our joy, before we escaped. A culture that’s all about planning, scheduling and control – They call it ambition. I vaguely remember a bit of it; todo lists, productivity meetings, schedules and gantt charts. I’m sure glad that part of my life’s in the rear view mirror.

Anyway, we decided screw the schedule, we should just post when the ideas come and embrace spontaneity a little more. That decision came this morning after I got back from a bike ride, we’ll see how it works out. Today it means an unscheduled post, hopefully one of many to come. Vickie took Sadie dog down to Medicine Arrow park for the morning stretch and when she returned she said, “it’s so beautiful this morning, the wind is down, you should go for a bike ride. Wouldn’t that be fun?” And, indeed it was!

At the beginning of the ride it was meditation – no thoughts. Only the sound of the crunching gravel and the voice of the meadowlark. The sight of the Redtail hawk leaping from the power pole and the Harris hawk steady on wing looking for breakfast in the harvested wheat field. The dark green of the corn field extending to the horizon. As I turned the corner at the apex of the ride and began the route back to the cottage, my mind turned on and that’s when the planning, scheduling, routine thoughts began to pour in; where’s this shit come from, was one of the thoughts.

I was on a nice downwind run though, the pedaling was easy, so I let the thoughts come. Then, out there on the High Planes, under a big sky, I had an epiphany. There might just be a sweet spot somewhere between, “getting shit done” and being spontaneous;>) When we fill our lives with schedules, goals and plans we can miss the opportunity to change our mind. And creativity can’t be planned; like nature, it’s a wild thing and shows up when you least expect it, not on some schedule you have in your iPhone.

Routines and planning are not the same, not even close. Routines are about what to do, not about an outcome.  A routine is a guideline, you can follow it or you can change your mind, without feeling guilty. The big difference is routines don’t have goals and deadlines, so they don’t produce a mess of stress and you can be open to new possibilities. Planning is focused on the outcome and has time frames, creating the stress.

Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button, to keep up with all the 3MPH Fun. It’s down below if you’re on a phone and over to the left somewhere if you’re not. Peace & Love, from the 3MPH Crew.

Breathe – Life is Good, Right Now