I realized, during that stretch, the creative power of unplugging from phones, computers and television for periods of time. It seems like it should be the opposite. Removing all the inspiring artists and material from under our noses should be like unplugging a lamp from a light socket—an immediate loss of energy, but unplugging for a time triggered creativity. Out of the screen silence came new thoughts. I wanted to write, cook, create, and dream. And I don’t think it was a fluke.

Take a second and think about your day. Do you hit the ground running in the morning? Push yourself to the limit? Taking care of the kids, checking email, after-school activities, doing homework, stress about deadlines, and your determination to accomplish everything you put on your to-do list. Without warning, sleep turns into nothing more than a short reprieve between tasks rather than the necessary restoration your body and mind need.

Sometimes not working becomes the actual work. Sometimes resting is not as easy as it once was. But does that mean we give up? Not even a little. It means we remove the stigma of stopping, and we retrain our brains to remember the sheer joy of doing nothing. I know what you're thinking: "That's a lot easier said than done." Maybe that's true, but what prevents us from simply enjoying and appreciating doing nothing is that we allow our tasks to captivate our attention more than rest. 

It was stunningly beautiful. A milky pale green color studded with gold drops and a single black line, this temporary resting place was like a living gem. For 8-15 days (depending on temperature), the caterpillar would wait, completely still inside, and in that waiting, it would be utterly transformed.   

There are times when my heart begins beating fast, my mind starts racing, and I break out in a nervous sweat. It may seem that the cause of these symptoms would be from doing something challenging, such as taking a test or perhaps giving an important presentation. However, more often than not, these effects take place in my body shortly after scrolling through news articles online.