Finding Your ‘Hum’

Shonda Rhimes is notoriously known as the creative guru who came up with popular ABC shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and most recently “How to Get Away with Murder.” In a recent Ted Talks episode, Shonda provides her work/life balance in terms of ‘finding her hum’ - her creative sense and inspiration that keeps her working and devoted to writing. She describes how, at one point, mid-career, her ‘hum’ stopped suddenly and made her feel as though she not only lost her will to work; she felt as though she lost her entire identity. How did she regain it? She took time to appreciate the little inspirations that were in front of her face and already created by her - her toddlers. She explains that she took time to ‘play’ - to appreciate the small but precious of amounts of time where our mind takes a break from work - whether it be working in an office, raising a family, or simply doing laundry. The time she spent simply ‘playing’ with her young children for even a few minutes at a time created a balance that restocked her energy in work. I think this lesson can be applied to every single operating human on this earth; take time to find your own safe and nurturing sense of ‘play’ and routinely practice. More importantly, take time to recognize the beautiful, small things that surround you day-to-day that can go unnoticed rather easily. I, for one, don’t ever want to lose my spark.