“How you feel is your life.” Tony Robbins
When you are a kid you feel good most of the time and don’t even realize it. Time goes by in a day and how you feel physically just usually doesn’t come into play. Yes, you may be a little tired or get a boo boo on your elbow or something, but physical well being is just a given in normal living conditions.
As you get older this feeling of good can only be managed by physical activity. The things that make us feel good are often food, drink, and vice of some kind. The things that we take into our bodies is how we often control how we feel. I call it the fake placebo effect. Placebos are fake, so what is a fake placebo? A fake placebo is one that you don’t think matters when it does. That third glass of wine, the extra piece of pizza, or the second helping of ice cream are fake placebos.
Play, it turns out, is a very important part of living a healthy life. I used to think that playing recreational sports was a waste of time when I got older. I needed to be working on something. Play was for me a luxury I couldn’t afford. I hate the fitness studio to be honest. If there isn’t a ball involved I won’t run anywhere. But, playing ball was, like I said, a luxury I couldn’t afford. I had too much work to do.
When I became an opera singer the physical activity of sports was once more reduced out of a real desire to avoid getting sick. A sick opera singer is a singer who can’t do their job. As a singer, every time you get a cold, an allergy, it is like a baseball pitcher breaking his arm. It is a serious problem. So, avoiding any activity that risks getting sick you don’t do. It is that simple.
The only problem with it is that when you don’t participate in sports your body loses its flexibility, its equilibrium and ultimately its ability to do that sport. Now, you can substitute sports with something like dance, but there too you are risking injury and getting a cold. Ergo, a situation where the body becomes less and less flexible and strong.
Today, for me, it has become a chore just to get moving in the morning. The best thing for me would be to go golfing at 7:00 a.m. like we did when I was a teen. Get my 18 holes in before 11:00. At least I’m outside and playing a game that is fun. But, I now 64 and my body isn’t 17 anymore. I probably will look like an old codger on the course. So, if I am going to golf, I have to start at the driving range and work on my body flexibility. The point of golf isn’t the game to me, the point of golfing is having a reason to walk long distances while unhinging myself from the world of daily worries.
Other activities like taking pictures of nature or things that interest me on a walk. Anything I can do to get my mind off walking, while walking, is something that interests me. Add to the problem my feet have issues with plantars fasciitis and I have to be very careful not to re-injure that. It puts and end to walking at all. Standing is also not much fun either.
So, whatever it takes to feel good physically is incredibly important in having the optimistic mindset necessary for creative activity. The world looks a lot better when you feel good. So, personal physical hygiene and flexibility are incredibly important for a creative person.