Do you enjoy enough healthy exercise in your life? If you're in a creative slump, healthy exercise can go a long way to moving past it!

1. Healthy Exercise Will Keep You Feeling Great!
Written by: Brad Edwards on Feb. 20th
2014
Do you get enough healthy exercise in your life? It’s just as important as nutrition, if not more!
I’ve always been an avid reader, having read my first newspaper when
I was four years old. I don’t remember what it was about, nor do I
remember reading it for that matter, but my parents and my
grandmother all tell me it happened, so I’ll take their word for it.
One of the authors near and dear to my heart is Daniel Quinn. He wrote a collection of
books which changed the way I look at the world at a fundamental level. They rocked
me to my core, and I have never been the same since.
The second book in the “series” (if you want to call it that) is called The Story of B. It
touches on some major philosophical and sociological ideas.
I can’t possibly cover everything that occurs in the book in just one article, so I’m not
even going to try. But one part of it I found particularly interesting.
It talks about creativity, and where it comes from. At a certain point in the book, the main
protagonist, Father Jared Osborne, a Roman Catholic priest of the Laurentian order,
meets with Shirin, a close advisor of the titular character, B.
She tells Jared that humans are deeply fascinated by a good story. This is a universal
human trait that spans across cultures. The best storytellers in our culture, past or
present, are all revered and held up as important contributors to society. From Homer to
Scorsese, Guanzhong to Dylan, we admire and respect these storytellers.

2. This is self-evident, of course, but what I found interesting was why these stories are so
important. Quinn’s theory is that we developed a love of storytelling as a survival
mechanism.
What Does This Have To Do With Healthy Exercise?
Now, I’m aware this is a blog about vegan belts and vegan topics, and there’s a good
chance if you’re reading this, you’re a vegan or at least a vegetarian (or a fan of vegan
fashion!).
I’m also aware that we haven’t touched on healthy exercise at all yet, and you might be
thinking the title of this article is misleading at this point. But just bear with me here, I
promise you it will all make sense by the end!
Anyway, I want to ask you to put yourself into the mind of a wild, uncivilized hunter-
gatherer for a moment.
Imagine you’re someone who lived five hundred thousand years ago, before the concept
of a vegan, or herbivore, or omnivore, or any sort of diet with a name even existed.
There was no such thing as vegan fashion, or any sort of fashion for that matter. You
just ate and wore whatever you could find, because the only other option was starvation
and exposure.
You’re wandering through the forest, looking for food to feed your family, and you come
across a set of animal tracks. “Oh good!” you think, “I’m going in the right direction!” But
you’re not home free yet!
From just those tracks, you have to answer many different questions very quickly to
track it properly. What type of animal was it? In what direction it was heading? How fast
was it going? And what was it doing?
Was the animal scared? Was it searching for food? Was it running away from a
predator, or casually strolling after a meal? Was it trying to find a place to sleep? Was it
alone, or in a group? Could a group of this animal present a danger to you? Is it even
the type of animal you’d want to eat? How long ago was it nearby? How far could it likely
have gone during that time? Is there any sign that some other predator beat you to it?
And what’s going on around you which might have influenced the animal’s behavior?
These and many other questions need to be answered before you can track that animal
down.
And the best way to come up with that is to put together a story of what that animal was
doing when he was there, and what he has been doing since.
But the game didn’t stop there! You’d have to put together that narrative as you explored
the forest. You couldn’t sit down for several hours and write out a long story, because by
the time you’d finished the animal would be long gone, far too difficult to track, or in the
belly of some other fortunate and more agile predator.
So you’d need to assemble your story on the go. You’d need to track the animal as you
put the story together. And then, when you found another clue, like another set of

3. footprints or the remains of a meal, you’d need to update your story with the new
information if you ever hoped to bring back enough food to feed your family.
So naturally, those who were the best at putting together a compelling story had the best
chances for survival. And because of that, storytelling became a desirable trait in a
potential partner.
My theory is that’s why people like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan are so popular, even
though by any objective account they’re bad singers playing fairly sparse music, but I
digress (and no disrespect meant to either!)
What Does It All Mean???
Because animal tracking is so closely tied to healthy movement and exploration, and
creating a compelling story is a creative act, it follows that creativity is closely tied to
healthy movement.
So my point is, if you find yourself in a creative slump (it happens to everyone!), it might
have more to do with where you are and what you’re doing. Are you hunched over in a
chair or lying on a couch? If so, get up and enjoy some healthy movement!
Go for a walk, take a bike ride, do some jumping jacks, or put on your favourite song
and dance to the music! Whatever your favourite form of healthy movement is, do it!
Then come back to the task at hand, and you’ll find yourself much more in tune with
your creative side. No matter what type of creative work you do, you’ll find you’re much
better able to cope with it if you’re enjoying some healthy movement!
Thanks for reading! Yours in good health, this is Brad Edwards for Truth!
Live Your Truth, and Respect Others!
I’m Brad Edwards, blogger and web strategist with Cloud Surfing Media. I've been writing for as
long as I can remember. These days, I help local businesses make their websites more
interesting through written content, including writing articles for Truth, a vegan fashion company
(even though I’m not a vegan!). When I’m not writing, I enjoy cycling, drumming, and enjoying a
nice cigar and craft beer. To discover more about vegan fashion, check out Truth
online: Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter |