What is your method to gladness?

Andrea Learned provides some insightful food for thought today: I work from home, by myself, in a small town, far from the everyday hustle and bustle - and no, I have not yet gone batty. Instead, I have managed to create an incredible life by learning from, and paying attention to, letting the outside in. And this, my friends, has been the method to my gladness for years. For me, learning to live from the "outside in" means both being outdoors as much as possible (that's me walking along Lake Champlain with my dog in the photo) AND being outside the usual business and lifestyle construct. I have found that I learn by living on the other side of any more common boundary. Force an 8 to 5 schedule on me, and I’ll squirm and gasp for air – resenting it all the way. But, allow for my life of structured randomness - unusual hours, a wide variety of project topics, many dog walks and Pilates breaks, with a dose of travel/speaking/being “with” people - and I deliver my absolute creative best. Read her full posting (so you can also see the picture) at Talking Story. As mentioned previously, I'll be stepping into the world of podcasting this week at the PodCamp unconference being held here in Boston. The opening party is tonight at Harvard. That should create some gladness! What is your method to gladness? How do you maintain some balance in your perspective? Technorati Tags : Andrea+Learned, Talking+Story, Joyful+Jubilant+Learning+2006, gladness, perspective, balance