I’ve been on vacation, seeking a different level of balance and some veg time. I read a couple of mysteries, explored some of Canada’s Eastern Townships, and then lessened the activity to increase the quiet and still time.

Filling up days with places and events is often considered a great vacation. And great it is if not for beginning and ending with exhaustion. Its restorative score could be low, as most often vacations are expected to provide a break from schedules and their pressures as experienced in daily routines. A change in place, without pace, doesn’t always leave the residual effect anticipated with a vacation.

And while a change in pace, and not place, may serve up most of the benefits sought, vacations, we should note, are personal, and preferences as such will vary. The key is balance, something we all need and seem to believe is more achievable while on vacation.

Balance can be as elusive as the universal sought after happiness. And there’s a reason: they are intertwined with our state of mind. So while a change in pace or place seem appropriate for creating balance, neither provide a guarantee for a great vacation.

When I think of vacation I’m reminded of the carefree, imaginative and fun-filled days of childhood summers. Playing was the balance I needed then, and now. From creating our Indian village to spending hours throughout the day and evening at the local pool, to climbing a rock face of one of the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi, I was free to explore, create and experience. Our play was simply accepted, with few boundaries. And the appropriate level of silliness was always balanced with equal seriousness.

Self-expression flowed, and laughter came easy and often as we were loving life. With our laughter, we were releasing plenty of those healthy endorphins, which by the way are 10 times more powerful than the pain-relieving drug morphine. And no doubt we were increasing our little hearts’ rate, as in addition to the physical activity, our endless laughter gave it a boost. FYI, just a few minutes of laughter can double your heart rate, according to Dr. William Fry, Jr.

I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: As children we laughed on average 400 times a day; by age 35 we’ve reduced that to 15. So creating a more healthy balance truly does require a bit more play and laughter, in both the mental and physical sense.

For me, there’s nothing more fun than wandering and pondering. Wandering to see and experience new things, like dark chocolate enrobed blueberries we purchased at the Saint-Benoit-du-Lac Abbey. A burst of fresh berry flavor surprised us, because it was truly fresh and truly a burst.

As for pondering, time is given to those things that just don’t make their way into my brainscape during the normal course of a week. Topic matters not because vacation offers a chance to twirl anything and everything around and peer at them from different perspectives. My mental escapades are free to involve matters of the farfetched and otherwise inconceivable.

Play, mental and physical, has been recognized as a key ingredient of well being and happiness for centuries. Aristotle and Plato spoke of such beliefs. On through history, these beliefs have gained merit through the studies of the brain pertaining to the development and education of children, problem solving, creativity, relationships at home and work, as well as team performances.

According to one study, Schaeffer 1993, play is as important to human happiness and well-being as love and work. By nature we are born to play. It’s a source of energy and excitement, stimulating our bodies and brains. At the same time it provides for calmness, relaxation and improved sleep. Vacations that incorporate play are downright therapeutic.

It has been said that you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. I suspect the same is true in exploration of our selves. I’ve not happened upon too many down sides to play, other than the occasional skinned knee.

So with a hop and a skip, unleash yourself. Get in the spirit, stay in the spirit, be the spirit needed to jump into a fun-filled vacation. Giggle and laugh as if you’ve never grown up. Let vacation be like skinny dipping, where without hesitation you leap in. No clothes, no second thoughts are necessary as you understand life is not a dress rehearsal. Allow yourself to recapture the carefree feelings and well-being of childhood.

Anita Ancel is President of Ancelary Group, a Vermont firm that helps executives and their teams develop attitudes and habits for ongoing success and happiness.

In January, I sent out cards to current and past clients, encouraging them to see the opportunities beyond the obstacles. The possibilities, numerous and varied, are there if we choose to look.

Obstacles are most often tagged as matters that hinder or create difficulties. Interfering and interrupting, they are seen as a nuisance. Sometimes it’s nothing serious, just an annoyance to be shooed away as if it were a bothersome fly. That’s the glass half-full perspective.

Half-empty looks different. It’s worse. Obstacles become monstrous. They’re our deepest fears, come to stare us in the face of our weakest vulnerabilities. They penetrate our resolve. And we, we succumb.

Now, if we tilt our heads a bit and cock our attitudes we’ll realize there’s yet another perspective. What if we didn’t dread obstacles, rather we marveled in what they offered. Clearly they communicate if we stay the current course without some adjustment, we’re doomed. So why not welcome their lead.

These kinds of shifts are happening all the time; think about it. Experienced, white guys have been joined at the top of corporate ladders by the young, the female, the ethnic, the non-conformist and the globally-connected.

Commuting to the office to talk to others on the phone is frowned upon as not green. No office and virtual workers are more common place.

The mobile phone is replacing PCs as the main connection to the internet, among other uses. Half the Top 10 best selling novels in Japan were written on mobile phones.

The old adage of never give anything away for free has given way to a global free-for-all. Open source, shared templates along with co-creating have been embraced as lucrative business models. Even IBM came around to participating in open source software.

At the root of all of these shifts is a different view. Someone either didn’t see, or saw past and through, the rules, limitations and problems. From their perspective rose the alternatives and some new directions.

Traveling these new paths, the point of departure is often forgotten. The focus is ahead. The unexpected, the once unknown, and the never-before-imagined are along the way. Arrival is in a new place, until, again, seeing goes beyond.

From this vantage point, I’d say, obstacles are among our new, best friends.

I found myself somewhat immersed in the world of visual art this past week. From looking at my son’s latest creation, to watching a movie about Georgia O’Keeffe and having dinner with a friend who is celebrating his 50th year as an artist, I took a fresh look at the world and contemplated life.

The three styles of painting are distinctively identifiable with each artist. The canvasses speak to the essence of their creator, hinting at their values, as well as bits and pieces of their life’s journey. But most pronounced in the work are the artists’ passions, undeniable and, for the most part, unwavering.

While my son is just beginning, the stories of the other two reinforce this sense of passion, including a passion for the unique self. O’Keeffe had at one point early on given up on her art, noting that the tradition of what she had learned was not one with which she could distinguish herself. Then, while attending a teaching college, she met Arthur Dow, who believed the goal of art is the expression of the artist’s personal ideas and feelings.

O’Keeffe says Dow “…helped me find something of my own.” It was from within that O’Keeffe found the connection between herself and the land, transferring it to canvas for all to see. And from that point on the world was enriched with her shared intimacy of our landscapes.

In “finding her own,” came a strength and freedom to stay the course. She is quoted, “I get out my work and have a show for myself before I have it publicly. I make up my own mind about it – how good or bad or indifferent it is. After that the critics can write what they please. I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free.”

The same is true for my friend, Paul Gruhler, who finds that his modernist abstract works are not always enthusiastically welcomed. And yet, freely he continues, and in doing so his art reveals a strong voice, full of colorful subtleties and an undeniable integrity.

He does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. A January exhibition in New Hampshire proved to be a very confirming and lucrative one, as about a dozen of his paintings sold. His work is currently on exhibit at the governor’s office here in Vermont, and has been a constant in another state official’s office for some time.

Gruhler grew up in New York “in awe of the tall buildings and the orderly grid of streets and avenues.” Combined with an equal wondering reverence for the art of Sung and later Chinese dynasties, he creates both harmony and tension through a sophisticated use of the basics: color, line and form.

He creates with a respect for the individual in all of us. Thus, he doesn’t title his works because he wants “above all to leave them available to the experience and discovery of others.”

This passion, this relentless commitment to share the best of who they are, is a wonderful display of leadership. For at the core of great leadership is authenticity, which can only begin with self.

That’s not the only lesson here, though. Key to survival in the art and business worlds, alike, is something upon which many a strategic planning sessions have focused. That is, the unique value proposition.

If artists can take the same tools and palette of colors, and present the everyday in a way that is recognizably of them, a business likewise can present its products or services in a way that sets them a part. Like so many things in life, these distinctions come from taking a deep look within, as opposed to solely keeping a watchful eye on the outer world.

It’s a rainy Monday here in Vermont and I refuse to see it as dreary.  Rain sparks sensations of freshness: scents of lilacs and lilies of the valley, visions of color as flowers begin to stretch and grow their way to the surface, and sounds of birds and high pitched peepers as they make their returns

Imagination is a wonderful thing, not only for dreary days, but for stagnant businesses, ongoing problems and unfulfilled lives. Some may think of it as an escape, avoidance and foolishness. They’re the ones who don’t get it.

Imagination is the first step in creation and progress. It is fun, not work. It engages our playfulness, our inner child and our laughter.  It takes us to places that pure seriousness never goes. And it is necessary.

Of course, it’s not so common in business, and is often discouraged in life.  Let’s get serious. Quit wasting time. Stop that foolishness. Follow the rules.  Stay inside the lines.  That’s not logical. Be practical. These comments shut down our imaginations and knock the creativity right out of us.

Neuroscientist Rodolph Llinas tells us why these comments dampen creative spirits. In his book I of the Vortex, he wrote: “The neural processes underlying that which we call creativity have nothing to do with rationality. That is to say, if we look at how the brain generates creativity, we will see that it is not a rational process at all; creativity is not born out of reasoning.”

At an economic development meeting about a year ago, as we gathered to find ways to respond to youth leaving our state, a person stood up to remind us to be more youthful and creative in our thought.  She asked how many people thought they were creative.  A few hands went up. She shared that when that question is asked of a class of kindergartners, all hands go up.

Another interesting tidbit, children laugh several hundred times a day.  By time were 35, we laugh only about a dozen times a day. So what happens to us through life?

Bad habits, that’s what. The most damaging habit we are taught throughout our formal education is that there is just one right answer or one way to see things. I was about to write that may be true with mathematical problems when I remembered my answer to a 10^th grade geometry proof.  The teacher told us it would take 27 steps as a clue for us to know when we had it right. 

I never got to 27 steps.  For me it only took three steps. My teacher, to his credit, didn’t automatically dismiss it as wrong.  He studied it and then called in the other teachers in the math department to take a look.  They all agreed it was right, even though they had never before seen it done that way.

My point: rarely is there just one answer or one way. Going beyond routine, assumptions, appropriateness, long-standing rules, and the tried-and-true requires a letting go and sanctioning of the new, different and even uncomfortable.  It will lead to progress, though maybe not directly. You might just have to travel the messy, unpredictable path that creativity sometimes requires.

To illustrate my point, I’ll leave you with a story from one my favorite books on creativity: A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech:

“In 1792, the musicians of Franz Joseph Haydn’s orchestra got mad because the Duke promised them a vacation, but continually postponed it. They asked Haydn to talk to the Duke about getting some time off. Haydn thought for a bit, decided to let the music do the talking, and then wrote the ‘Farewell Symphony.’ The performance began with a full orchestra, but as the piece went along, it was scored to need fewer and fewer instruments.  As each musician finished his part, he blew out his candle and left the stage. They did this, one by one, until the stage was empty. The Duke got the message and gave them a vacation.

            Now is the right time.  Ask any of the Olympic medal winners or last night’s Oscar winners.  They will tell you, NOW is the right time.

            At the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, the Gardiner Sisters agreed in song… “Follow your heart, right from the start.”  Now is the right time to start living, or working, your dream.

            The word “dream” is spoken a lot on these momentous occasions.  It’s a word that is expected, accepted and real when spoken by the top performers in these fields. And yet in everyday life, dreams are often sabotaged by doubts and doubters, perpetuating not just short term procrastination but lifelong regrets.

            Dreams are founded on passion, and when pursued generate more energy than any other motivating factor.  With total belief, they give the power to propel beyond any perceived obstacle.

             In the business world, dreams exist in the beginning as organizations are created. With maturity, comes a different attitude. Dreams are seen as soft, a head-in-the-clouds waste of time, being too abstract and just a wish.  Quite frankly, dreams that aren’t pursued are just that.

            Businesses take up strategic planning, which many believe to be a more concrete process. The problem with most strategic plans, though, is they leave out the dreaming step, and end up with more of the same. They wrongly perceive the key word to be “more,” when it is the “same.”  And the “same” isn’t a long-term strategy for success. 

            The vision, the imagination and creativity that helped crystallize the organization’s path in the beginning is not tapped. Mired in protective mindsets, safeguarding the position of individuals and the organization, new directions feel too risky.  Nay-sayers are honored, for what is usually mistaken as loyalty.

            Ironically, dreamers who engage in the pursuit, work the steps of a strategic plan.  Gathering information, determining action steps, creating measurements, as well as planning and adjusting for obstacles along the way are just what they do. The difference is that their level of belief, passion and drive carry them further.  They take the necessary hard work in stride, and safe is no where on their radar.

            Geoffrey Fletcher, when accepting his Oscar for Precious, Best Adapted Screenplay, acknowledged the work and shared the moment, saying, “This is for everybody who works on the dream everyday.”

            Life pursuits are no different than those of business.  In working with kids, I hear them talk about their dreams, and then the possibilities for failure.  They’ve heard such things as “most don’t make it,”  “you can’t do that,”  “you might not win.”  They are hungry to talk about how their dreams could come true, a topic often avoided in an effort to keep them from getting their hopes up too high.

            On into adulthood and the work place we go, all the time being cautious with our hopes.  And yet, when given the chance, we want to be there to experience dreams coming true for others.  We soak in the feelings of victory and success, allowing ourselves, for a few moments, to dream again.

            In so doing, try to remember this perspective from Sarah Ban Breathnach, “The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers.  But above all, the world needs dreamers who do.”  And then consider some “doing.”

While in New York this weekend, I was reminded of how frequently we are faced with decisions that speak to our authenticity. It was more than the patterns of styles and behaviors that emerged while people-watching. It was what I saw in formal exhibits and on stage that spotlighted our human struggles and triumphs of being true to ourselves.

  Authenticity is that desired state that we connect with success, leadership and happiness.  And while it is so desired, there are ongoing pressures to be otherwise. Fitting in, being accepted, avoiding ridicule, controversy and conflict keep many teetering on the edge, rocking between a unique self and the collective blend. Some just succumb, believing it is easier to mix with the majority.

            Leave the streets of NYC, step into a theater or art museum, and find a celebration of the authentic. For originality and individual victories draw us in, and connect at a gut level.

            The fancy footwork of Billy Elliott, the young boy growing up in a struggling mining town, won him the opportunity to pursue ballet, but not without enduring some soul-searching pirouettes of his family and community. It’s an all too common theme in life.

            At Lincoln Center, South Pacific’s Emile de Becque made decisions according to his priorities, leaving him unpopular at times.  His love, Nellie, resisted her true feelings for him, listening to what others thought and said, for she was already tagged “nutty” for being herself.  This play, full of many such struggles, shows them to be more of a daily occurrence than we might want to acknowledge.

            We find differences and creativity recognized and appreciated in exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). While his work is revered now, Claude Monet made choices that were not so easy at the time.  He snubbed artistic traditions to make way for playing with personal expressions. Creations throughout MoMA reveal similar sentiments, with artists eliminating the concept of convention to toy with just about everything.

            When it came to interpreting space, within and surrounding structures, Frank Lloyd Wright was another artist who didn’t believe in sacrificing personal style. He wove form, function and light into revolutionary architecture, as is the case with the Guggenheim Museum. In observance of the museum’s 50^th anniversary, the world has been Contemplating the Void, which Wright so boldly designed into the center of this “catalytic” building.

            Standing in the spiraling open space, one can begin to understand Wright’s dedication to his own sense of being and imagination.  There was no conforming, no imitation.  And yet, with just one step outdoors, existence becomes a monotone blur defined by peer pressure. Even in our pursuit of being different, too often we are the same.

            Unless, like young Billy Elliott, you feel sparks inside, like electricity, and totally free, you are not being true to you.