Why Routine is Important in My Constantly Changing Life
Shooting from the lift for a stop of the TORC tour in 2016.
Anyone who knows me knows I get antsy. I can't stand still. I'm always trying new things. I'm always going new places or at the very least dreaming about it. It comes with the territory of being a "millennial" in the nomadic career field of action sports film, photography and live events. What you may not know about us wanderlust driven millennial creatives, though, is that we are very much creatures of habit.
Why? Well, new choices are a constant in my life. Where's the next job? When's the next paycheck? Where will I be living in 6 months or a year? Even on shoots and at events, maybe especially there, choices abound as situations change constantly that require my immediate attention. It's enough to split my brain in a thousand different directions. What I've realized out of all this is that although I do embrace the new, the different and the unknown, I want to maintain my identity as Galen.
How? Well, for me this has taken the form of what friends, girlfriends and family have called (hopefully affectionately?) "health nut," "hippy," "gym rat," and others. What I've found I can control, for the most part, is my health. It not only allows me to physically travel and do the things I want to do, but also emotionally and mentally handle the inherent roller coaster that comes with this lifestyle. That's been everything from cooking to hunting down local kombucha to going to the gym regularly to taking various herbal and vitamin supplements.
It doesn't have to be health related, though. For me, for example, it has expanded into small habits like making my bed in the morning, journaling in the form of photos or blogs, listening to podcasts and slack lining to clear my mind and rehab my various injuries.
So yes, a traveling, wanderlust driven, creative, busy constantly changing lifestyle is full of "news" and "firsts," but I believe it is incredibly important to find habit and norms in the midst of all that. It will not, like I once believed, hamper you or hold you do. It WILL keep you sane and even improve your ability to lead that lifestyle that we love so much. So embrace you habits and maintain your identity. It's what allows you to be not only spontaneous, but do it well.
- Galen Murray -
Visual Vagabonds Owner and DP
