If you’ve a writer or other creative person, and have not yet discovered Colleen M. Story and her blog Writing and Wellness then you’re missing an interesting and valuable resource.
Her site’s mission statement is “Writers and other creatives need to stay well to keep producing the work they were meant to do.”
Pretty good fit, I’d say. And today, Colleen is featuring me on Writers on Wellness.
“When I think of physically challenging jobs, I imagine professional athletes, construction workers, or firefighters. Writers? not so much.”
But when back pain sidelined my writing, my gardening, and even my ability to sit comfortably, I revised my thinking. Writing and wellness go hand in hand.
So, though writing may not fit into an expected definition of physically challenging work, sitting for long periods of time, no matter how fit you are, is asking for trouble . . .
To continue reading, go on over to Writers on Wellness and check out!
Well, any activity which requires to be in a certain position can cause pain and affect the underlying muscles, tendons and joints. I used to do medical writing for large pharmaceutical companies. Some clinical trial documents were 100-150 pages, and I had to deliver them within 4 days. Everything was urgent. Such writing resulted in cramps, intolerable wrist pain, inability to move the right arm for a while, back pain and stiffness in legs. Not to mention the eyesight which went from excellent to fairly bad within 20 years of me writing a lot.
I completely understand how you being a writer have to spend numerous hours at your desk, computer, laptop or any other piece of supportive furniture. This puts pressure on every part of the body. Well, we are advised to take walks and do some stretching while tied up with computer or manual writing and drawing, but it’s not always time frame is large enough to allow for that. I usually switch activities because everything must be handled very quickly. You have garden and outdoors, too, and that’s a good thing. I’m also doing some cleaning and floor washing when my condition allows, just to keep joints flexible and all parts of the body moving.
I think eyes need a lot of attention, too, since neglecting vision issues can cause bad headache.
So true, and I completely agree about neglecting the eyes. It’s important to take breaks frequently, if only to look away from the screen to focus on something in the distance to exercise your eyes. It’s always a pleasure to have you drop by, Inese. Thank you.