The firebreak is an "obstacle to the spread of fire". There are natural firebreaks - rivers, scree slopes etc. and there are human-made firebreaks where brush and trees are cleared. The human made breaks need to be maintained, they need to be kept cleared. The human made breaks can be multi purpose - pipelines and be run under or over them for example. Often they become game trails and recreational corridors for hikers and bikers alike.
Recently running along the firebreak pictured here I was reflecting on how we all too often get caught up in the rat race/ on the hamster wheel / busywork* and as the firebreak prevents the spread of fire in the physical I wondered what the firebreaks are in our lives? and what do they prevent?
Burnout (no pun intended) is what I realized.
So what are are natural firebreaks in our lives? Sleeping is one we are most familiar with (but are we keeping that firebreak cleared? I see too many people skipping sleep to get more done), day dreaming is another one (when as the last time you stared off into space and daydreamed?), even napping - something that working from home has allowed me to experiment with!
Then there are human-made firebreaks, holidays would be one, meditation, exercise, mindfulness, walking and playing with a pet would be some of the others I could mention. But what about you?
As we adapt to the "always on" highly connected culture of today, where are your firebreaks? What do you do to find quiet and stillness to avoid burn out?
* delete are applicable