What do bluebirds (and other interests) have to do with energy?
In a 1942 research article, PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HOBBIES: A Contribution to Civilian Morale by WILLIAM C. MENNINGER (http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/ajp.99.1.122), "...High pressure production, longer hours, night shifts, increased responsibility will all add increased stress to each personality with resulting tension and fatigue." In today's time of economic stress and Global war issues, people are again facing "...High pressure production, longer hours, night shifts, increased responsibility... increased stress ... resulting [in] tension and fatigue." Energy drain comes from high stress situations. Let's look at what Menninger suggests and at some current research on the role of hobbies in increasing energy and decreasing stress.
Both recreation and rest are important, Dr. Menninger points out from the document, "Fatigue: Importance and Control," and further, we, "are not machines." Constructive leisure time activities, like watching bluebirds, or hiking, or feeding the goats, raising bees, gardening, crocheting, cooking for fun, and just relaxing, decrease fatigue and increase energy.
This secret on how to increase energy, while not ancient, is something we need to remind ourselves of today. In the 2015, Google Scholar Metrics, Dr. Menninger's work has already been cited more than 65 times. That means he is being cited on average more than 10 times per month for his work on increasing energy.
A paper presented in 2014, at the DRUID Society Conference 2014, CBS, Copenhagen, June 16-18, called, "Spanning the Creative Space between Home and Work: Leisure Time, Hobbies and Organizational Creativity," by Lee N. Davis (Copenhagen Business School Dept. of Innovation and Organizational Economics [email protected]), Karin Hoisl (Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich School of Management [email protected]), and, Jerome Dean Davis (Copenhagen Business School Innovation and Organizational Economics [email protected]), addresses the concept of hobbies impacting energy levels. These authors related leisure activities, hobbies, to workplace creativity and patents. They quoted another research group who stated, "While many observers [...], see leisure time pursuits like hobbies as a waste of time, pursued by “dabblers”, studies suggest that hobbyists can play an important role in invention and innovation (Dahlin et al. 2004)" While this looks at the financial increase for employers, it also addresses the role for the individual, which we can relate to radiant health and bountiful energy.
In reviewing the literature for their article, the Copenhagen group highlight Singh and his colleague's work, stating that "employees may benefit indirectly from hobbies, since leisure time activities have been shown to play an important role in the development of cognitive skills (Singh-Manoux et al. 2003)." Having better thinking ability would likely let all body systems work better, too.
Goal-focused and socially focused hobbies both have value. While the Copenhagen research group looked at increase in creativity (enough to lead to more patent inventions) with hobbies, they did not touch on decreasing stress. We could decipher that there was an increase in creativity when there was less stress, then, went on to seek other research references.
Hobbies were found to be a stress-reducing factor in a research study on medical students (1998. 44: 1. Pp.: 1-6. A study of stress in medical students at Seth G.S. Medical College. AN Supe, Department of Surgery, Seth G.S. Medical College, Mumbai.) How about a study showing such a link in the general population (DOI:10.1080/07053436.1995.10715489 Marie Louise Caltabianoa pages 33-51)? Sure, there is such a link, "The presence of social leisure was found to moderate the relationship between life event distress and symptoms. These stress-buffering effects of social leisure were not found to hold at high levels of social activity. Rather, high levels of social leisure exacerbated the effects of distress on symptoms. The presence of stress-reducing cultural-hobbies leisure moderated the effects of distress, but exacerbated the effects of life change," which means adding people to our hobby can increase stress, unless they are supportive. Imagine a Thanksgiving dinner where a family doesn't get along, compared to one filled with joy and laughter. Compare those dinners to the feeling gotten during a leisure activity. If it is like a bad Thanksgiving, better to do a solitary activity... feed the goats, crochet. If crocheting or goat feeding is stressful because you struggle to hold the hook, follow the pattern, or, if you are allergic to goats (if there is such an allergy), then pick a hobby that is relaxing for you. (I enjoy birdwatching, star gazing, hiking, painting, and crochet. These for me are peaceful.) What do you enjoy?
Leisure, stress, and coping: An evolving area of inquiry: We can concur with Y Iwasaki, IE Schneider (Leisure Sciences, 2003 - Taylor & Francis) that the study of leisure, stress, and coping is an evolving research area, since a Google Scholar search on stress reduction and leisure activities lead to about 188,000 research articles on this topic in 0.08 sec.
Now, let's look at stress reduction and energy increase (and, of course, bluebirds).
Let's start with an infusion of energy when you balance leisure, work, and spiritual aspects of your life. For example, Pamela Grant, MSOE, in her book, Mastering the Balancing ACT (Dog Ear Publishing, 2011), states, "Fun is important! It's one of the ways to give us balance, an escape from our worries, an infusion
of energy, and it's an important gateway to our creativity! ... your stress will diminish,
your mood will lighten and you're creativity will greatly improve." So, provided your hobbies are fun, energy increases.
A part of our population is aging and with that may come some dementias (depending on lifestyle and nutrition, and a bit of genetics), so, I am including a note here that I found: recreation in nature helps prevent and reduce dementia symptoms and decrease adverse behaviors (Design for Nature in Dementia Care By Garuth Chalfont). I see that outside hobbies are good for all of us young, middle age (which starts at 80 these days) and old alike... Hmmm!
Bluebirds are outdoors so lets think about bluebirds as an example hobby. Watch a bird feed its young. Breathe in the fresh air. You can relax just thinking about it. The fresh air and pleasant thoughts bring calm to stress and simultaneously energy to your being. Check out Bluebird Man and BluebirdsForMarie. Go outside, too, if you can. Relax. Enjoy. Gain energy.
Think of other hobbies that bring you comfort and energy. Yoga, perhaps. Hiking. What brings you joy and peace? What de-stresses you and gives you energy? That is your secret today for increasing energy. As for me, I am going to watch bluebirds.
In a 1942 research article, PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HOBBIES: A Contribution to Civilian Morale by WILLIAM C. MENNINGER (http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/ajp.99.1.122), "...High pressure production, longer hours, night shifts, increased responsibility will all add increased stress to each personality with resulting tension and fatigue." In today's time of economic stress and Global war issues, people are again facing "...High pressure production, longer hours, night shifts, increased responsibility... increased stress ... resulting [in] tension and fatigue." Energy drain comes from high stress situations. Let's look at what Menninger suggests and at some current research on the role of hobbies in increasing energy and decreasing stress.
Both recreation and rest are important, Dr. Menninger points out from the document, "Fatigue: Importance and Control," and further, we, "are not machines." Constructive leisure time activities, like watching bluebirds, or hiking, or feeding the goats, raising bees, gardening, crocheting, cooking for fun, and just relaxing, decrease fatigue and increase energy.
This secret on how to increase energy, while not ancient, is something we need to remind ourselves of today. In the 2015, Google Scholar Metrics, Dr. Menninger's work has already been cited more than 65 times. That means he is being cited on average more than 10 times per month for his work on increasing energy.
A paper presented in 2014, at the DRUID Society Conference 2014, CBS, Copenhagen, June 16-18, called, "Spanning the Creative Space between Home and Work: Leisure Time, Hobbies and Organizational Creativity," by Lee N. Davis (Copenhagen Business School Dept. of Innovation and Organizational Economics [email protected]), Karin Hoisl (Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich School of Management [email protected]), and, Jerome Dean Davis (Copenhagen Business School Innovation and Organizational Economics [email protected]), addresses the concept of hobbies impacting energy levels. These authors related leisure activities, hobbies, to workplace creativity and patents. They quoted another research group who stated, "While many observers [...], see leisure time pursuits like hobbies as a waste of time, pursued by “dabblers”, studies suggest that hobbyists can play an important role in invention and innovation (Dahlin et al. 2004)" While this looks at the financial increase for employers, it also addresses the role for the individual, which we can relate to radiant health and bountiful energy.
In reviewing the literature for their article, the Copenhagen group highlight Singh and his colleague's work, stating that "employees may benefit indirectly from hobbies, since leisure time activities have been shown to play an important role in the development of cognitive skills (Singh-Manoux et al. 2003)." Having better thinking ability would likely let all body systems work better, too.
Goal-focused and socially focused hobbies both have value. While the Copenhagen research group looked at increase in creativity (enough to lead to more patent inventions) with hobbies, they did not touch on decreasing stress. We could decipher that there was an increase in creativity when there was less stress, then, went on to seek other research references.
Hobbies were found to be a stress-reducing factor in a research study on medical students (1998. 44: 1. Pp.: 1-6. A study of stress in medical students at Seth G.S. Medical College. AN Supe, Department of Surgery, Seth G.S. Medical College, Mumbai.) How about a study showing such a link in the general population (DOI:10.1080/07053436.1995.10715489 Marie Louise Caltabianoa pages 33-51)? Sure, there is such a link, "The presence of social leisure was found to moderate the relationship between life event distress and symptoms. These stress-buffering effects of social leisure were not found to hold at high levels of social activity. Rather, high levels of social leisure exacerbated the effects of distress on symptoms. The presence of stress-reducing cultural-hobbies leisure moderated the effects of distress, but exacerbated the effects of life change," which means adding people to our hobby can increase stress, unless they are supportive. Imagine a Thanksgiving dinner where a family doesn't get along, compared to one filled with joy and laughter. Compare those dinners to the feeling gotten during a leisure activity. If it is like a bad Thanksgiving, better to do a solitary activity... feed the goats, crochet. If crocheting or goat feeding is stressful because you struggle to hold the hook, follow the pattern, or, if you are allergic to goats (if there is such an allergy), then pick a hobby that is relaxing for you. (I enjoy birdwatching, star gazing, hiking, painting, and crochet. These for me are peaceful.) What do you enjoy?
Leisure, stress, and coping: An evolving area of inquiry: We can concur with Y Iwasaki, IE Schneider (Leisure Sciences, 2003 - Taylor & Francis) that the study of leisure, stress, and coping is an evolving research area, since a Google Scholar search on stress reduction and leisure activities lead to about 188,000 research articles on this topic in 0.08 sec.
Now, let's look at stress reduction and energy increase (and, of course, bluebirds).
Let's start with an infusion of energy when you balance leisure, work, and spiritual aspects of your life. For example, Pamela Grant, MSOE, in her book, Mastering the Balancing ACT (Dog Ear Publishing, 2011), states, "Fun is important! It's one of the ways to give us balance, an escape from our worries, an infusion
of energy, and it's an important gateway to our creativity! ... your stress will diminish,
your mood will lighten and you're creativity will greatly improve." So, provided your hobbies are fun, energy increases.
A part of our population is aging and with that may come some dementias (depending on lifestyle and nutrition, and a bit of genetics), so, I am including a note here that I found: recreation in nature helps prevent and reduce dementia symptoms and decrease adverse behaviors (Design for Nature in Dementia Care By Garuth Chalfont). I see that outside hobbies are good for all of us young, middle age (which starts at 80 these days) and old alike... Hmmm!
Bluebirds are outdoors so lets think about bluebirds as an example hobby. Watch a bird feed its young. Breathe in the fresh air. You can relax just thinking about it. The fresh air and pleasant thoughts bring calm to stress and simultaneously energy to your being. Check out Bluebird Man and BluebirdsForMarie. Go outside, too, if you can. Relax. Enjoy. Gain energy.
Think of other hobbies that bring you comfort and energy. Yoga, perhaps. Hiking. What brings you joy and peace? What de-stresses you and gives you energy? That is your secret today for increasing energy. As for me, I am going to watch bluebirds.