I love my life as an independent musician. It's not glamorous. I'm not raking in cash, rather just staying afloat. However, I still feel like recently I've been in a rut. It's from sitting in front of the computer too much. I love interacting with people online, but sometimes it gets to be too tiring. It affects my health and my mood. It's not easy to break away from.

Basically, I have difficulty relaxing. You know, when you just sit still for a while. I'm always on the move. Today, I noticed three different types of people.

1. The Type A Workaholic. That's me. I work non-stop and when I do take breaks, I barely notice them, because my mind is still stuck at work. I have to be doing all the time.
2. The Work Hard, Play Hard Person. That's the one who is a not like me. They work hard, but they know how to stop and play hard. Sometimes they'll even relax hard. But they're still doing all the time.
3. The Other People. Okay, that's not a fair breakdown, but you get the drift. There's the other people who don't seem to need to accomplish things. Or maybe they do, but they don't work as hard at it. This could never be me, and I'm okay with that.

   Then there's…

4. The Word Hard When You Work, Relax Easy. This is where I'd like to be. I love to “work”. It's to some degree play time for me. But it's the “relax easy” characteristic that I haven't figured out yet.

Part of not relaxing comes from working on the computer. For me, too much time in front of the computer leads to zombiedom. While I loved being mauled by zombies in Deadbacks, I don't want to live like one. So I really feel a change is needed.

Part of that desire for change comes from listening to the audio book of The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris. I just started the book. Even though I feel I am in the position that I could have a 4-hour work week, I don't really want to. I enjoy what I do. But I do want to more productively manage my time.

The book got me thinking that I really don't know how to relax. Except on rare occasions, I am always doing instead of taking time to relax and enjoy. When I do take the time, that is when I feel most inspired by life. My mind is less foggy. That means no television or radio or internet or even allowing myself to be distracted by whatever needs doing around the apartment. Just relax.

Admittedly, I find it easier and more fun in the company of others. But that is the challenge of the solitary individual, to find time to do what needs doing alone and time to be still.

I think I really need to follow the example of my cats. They know how to relax. They lounge all day. They find new places and things to lounge on. I lay out a towel. They lie out on the towel. I sit down. They sit on me. I lay down to sleep. They lie on or next to me.

All in all, I need to learn how to lounge and relax a little better. Not so much that I become unproductive, but enough that I can really relish my life as a musician more. For me, I think that means, more swimming, hiking, meditating, yoga, wine on the porch, spending time with my cats, maybe even taking up scuba again…

How do you relax when you are alone?