by Hallee Bridgeman, @halleeb
I’ve been writing full time for about thirteen years. In that time, I’ve written 40 books, countless blog posts, and various articles. I have spent hours and hours a day sitting in my chair in my office, staring at my computer screen.
Sitting for long stretches of time is hard on the body. It’s not great for circulation or muscle tone. It’s hard on your back and on your neck. AND – it affects your creativity.
A study conducted by Stanford University in 2014 revealed that walking inspires creativity. More, it concluded that the level of creativity was not affected by where a person walked – whether it was in the fresh outdoors or on a treadmill while staring at a blank wall. It’s the movement and exercise, the release of hormones that happen with joint compression and exercise that get those creative juices flowing.
Another super interesting finding was that the creativity was not impeded by sitting back down again. Those creative juices continued to flow.
That really inspired me to change the way my day looks. I have always walked first thing in the morning. I have two dogs, and we head out super early and get about a 3-mile walk in before the day begins. I feel good when I’m moving, especially because I have to sit for about twelve hours once I begin my day.
But after reading that study, I thought about the way that I do my day and decided to take that first walk in the morning down to two miles, and then walk throughout the day. Until recently, the home I lived in was part of a neighborhood that formed a figure eight. One full loop of the figure eight was exactly half a mile. At the top of every hour, I’d go walk that half a mile – rain or shine – warm or cold.
I have to tell you, even though getting up, getting the dogs hooked in collars, and walking took time out of every hour, what I discovered is that my productivity shot through the roof. I often would dictate into my phone as I walked and then continued that train of thought when I got back to my computer.
The days that the day job keeps me tied down and I’m not able to get up and get that nice 10 minutes of movement every hour, I can feel my body wanting to move and needing to move. My energy level wanes and my creativity becomes obsolete.
If you find yourself staring at a screen, trying to find the inspiration or the next scene or the next chapter, I encourage you to get up and go take a good walk. You might be surprised at the creative juices that get flowing and what ideas will prosper!
It may seem odd to seek peace by moving to a war-torn African country, but for medical missionary Dr. Cynthia Myers, it provided a way to escape a shallow life of unearned wealth, a philandering fiancé, and a father now square in the public eye as Vice President of the United States. At least here she knows her work and life have meaning. But all that is thrown into chaos when she fails to save the life of a local warlord’s mortally wounded son.
As part of the Army Special Forces “A-team” on a mission to capture and subdue the warlord dispatched to extract Cynthia’s team, Captain Rick Norton is compelled to use deadly force to save Cynthia’s life. Enraged at the violence she witnessed and riddled with guilt that men died because of her, Cynthia tries to hold onto her anger—but an unwanted attraction is taking hold.
With two members of his team badly injured and rebels in hot pursuit, Rick will have to draw upon all of his strength and cunning to get her out alive . . . because he’s beginning to think they just might overcome their differences and be able to make a life together.
With nearly a million sales, USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author Hallee Bridgeman writes action-packed romantic suspense focusing on realistic characters who face real-world problems. Her work has been described as everything from refreshing to heart-stopping exciting and edgy. Hallee has served as the Director of the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, President of the Faith-Hope-Love chapter of the Romance Writers of America, Secretary and Assistant Programming Chair of Novelists, Inc. (NINC), is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), and the American Christian Writers (ACW). An accomplished speaker, Hallee has taught and inspired writers around the globe, from Sydney, Australia, to Dallas, Texas, to Portland, Oregon, to Washington, D.C., and all places in between. Hallee loves coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. Above all else, she loves God with all of her heart, soul, mind, and strength; has been redeemed by the blood of Christ; and relies on the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide her.