Garden notes: Breaking like a pro. (Step 3)

Step 3: Be inspired

Personal admission: I have always had a knack for books. I like to wander impromptu into book shops and seldom walk out without some new reading material. To the despair of my wife and kids, the books in our house tend to pile up faster than we can install bookshelves to hold them, let alone than I can read them, even though I tend to read two or three books at the same time. For a long time, I have felt a certain sense of guilt when confronted with all that as of yet undigested reading material.

However, I recently learned that the Japanese are not just familiar with the phenomenon, but they actually have a word for it: “Tsundoku”, which I understand loosely translates as “the noble art of acquiring books and other reading material without reading them; letting books pile up on shelves, floors or nightstands.”

Not only did I feel relieved as one tends to be when knowing that there exists a name for one’s condition (at least you’re not alone), but it seems there is even a certain unconscious benefit to being surrounded by so many sources of undiscovered, uncharted knowledge and adventures. It keeps you curious and inspired…

And luckily so, because now that you have taken a step back, and set yourself and your daily habits back into a virtuous cycle, it is time to dive into the deep end of the pool.

The essence of any break is to reconnect with yourself and finally do the things you always wanted to do but just didn’t have time, the energy or the guts to do in the ordinary day to day.

In order to make the most out of this precious time, what better starting point than to “be inspired”, both in the passive sense of seeking inspiration and in the active sense of acting on that inspiration?

• Read books: Tsundoku be damned, take one or more books from the shelf, the pile or simply off the floor and start reading. Whether it is fiction or non-fiction, a historic novel, science fiction or fantasy, a travel guide, a cookery book, a biography, a philosophic treatise, a legal textbook, a management handbook or the latest insights in macro-economics… Feast your brain, pique your curiosity and stimulate your imagination. Personally, I have a penchant for 19th century literature. Despite the harsh living conditions of the times, it is somehow infused with an unwavering and infectious optimism that stands in sharp contrast to the pervasive pessimism that characterises our 21st century mindset.
• Listen to podcasts: As an alternative to reading books, or if you are somewhat short on time, consider filling up on e-books and podcasts and spend your idle moments listening to some interesting and inspiring materials. It’s the perfect way to make the most out of otherwise dead or dull moments such as a bus or metro ride or your daily commute, the waiting time in the doctor’s office, etc. Personal favourites include “HBR Ideacast” by Harvard Business Review or “In Good Company” by Nicolai Tangen . Especially the latter, in which the CEO of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund interviews the CEOs of some of the greatest companies in the world, offers a wealth of insights and wisdom by some great leaders. Almost like a free MBA…
• Visit places: Get off the coach and go visit some places you always wanted to see. Maybe, on your way to work, you walk past the National History Museum or the National Gallery every single day. This time, walk in and wander around the hallways. Enter your local church or cathedral, or visit an art exhibit. Venture into the countryside and explore a forest, an abbey (and have a beer), a castle. You’ll be amazed by what lies behind the facades of your daily life. By visiting new and unknown places, you’re breaking your habits, piquing your curiosity and infusing a puff of fresh air into your brain.
• Work through your bucket list: Chances are high that you have a bucket list: a list of things do “whenever you have the time”. A break is the perfect opportunity to tick some items of that list before it’s too late. As the Chinese proverb goes: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.” So start putting off until tomorrow what you can do today: Go sky-diving, start training for that 10K run or take golf courses, register for a course and learn something new, buy some paint and a few brushes and start painting, do volunteering, plan that trip, go backpacking in Latin America, mountain biking through the Rocky Mountains or admire the sunset over the savannah. Long bucket lists are no good when you’re 90 years old.
• Try something crazy: Finally, a long break is the perfect time to try something crazy. Always dreamt of launching your own company, plotting the hostile takeover of an emblematic public corporation, re-inventing yourself as a professional model or violin player, joining the army as a reserve officer, registering yourself for a beauty pageant or the next big bake-off. By all means, you only live once and at times we all have to try something more or less crazy. If you come out of a long break without a few crazy stories to tell, then sooner or later you’ll feel as if you sorely missed out on the real fun…

Reading material:

• (Please refer to your own Tsundoku pile)

Podcasts:

• HBR Ideacast
• In Good Company

Places to visit:

• Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
• Musée Magritte
• Royal Palace
• Comic Books Museum
• Natural History Museum
• Arboretum Tervuren