3 visualizations to measure your energy

a part of my series on energy studies.

if energy is something that we all have -- an essential life resource that we wake up with, everyday, at fluctuating levels -- then it makes sense to cultivate a practice of measuring it. by measure: I don't necessarily mean count, quantify, or even track, but something akin to checking the weather by looking outside, or the humidity levels by taking a walk. it is more about sensing -- than quantifying.

I wrote, a bit, in the intro to this series that I believe energy is the most important resource of all. time is relative, and money is symbolic. energy is both finite and replenish-able.

why sensing into energy?

to know your energy levels is to know what to expect of yourself -- if anything, at all. it is to know, based on your energetic resources, what kind of work or activities would feel most fitting, supportive, or nourishing to your whole being.

it's both an act of self-compassion, and a strategic way of working. the two are not in opposition. it is to use your intuition to work in alignment from where you are, in the present moment -- instead of pushing yourself to climb rigid standards of an unattainable "enough."

it is to think of the self as not an inexhaustible work horse, not forcing yourself to over-give while overriding signals of depletion -- but to approach the self as a complex, personal ecosystem whose cycles you respect, and honor as sacred.

contrary to what capitalism teaches us about human labor, you can work at your best capacity, independent of time input. magic is not measured in hours. and to work according to the subtleties of your energy, I believe, is a practice of magic.

cultivating a practice

measuring energy is about celebrating the cyclical variations in the human psyche and body.

I spent so many years of my life bemoaning my lack of consistent energy, or my variations in emotional mood, and headspace -- but these days, I'm convinced that those variations are sources of my highest creativity, and power.

what to measure

energy variations over a period of time -- an hour, a day, a week, a month, a cycle
how energy is affected by events, people, or activities
what it asks, or wants of me -- what would make it feel nourished, and loved?

how to measure
typically, I can gather an accurate reading on my energy level within the first hour of waking up, if not within the first 10-15 minutes.

I'm going to outline 3 ways of visualizing energy -- two of which are very generic (though sometimes useful), and one a little more complex.

3 ways of visualizing energy

Battery
in our iconic representation of battery life, there's only 5 states, color-coded for simplicity:

green = fully active and ready
yellow = slightly spent, but still available
orange = tired and faded
red = exhausted and depleted
charging

Fuel
another daily life metaphor -- how much fuel you have feels different, depending on where it is that you want to go.

full tank
half tank
quarter tank
red zone -- where the car won't stop bleeping until you refill it with gas.

why do we humans not have as vocal of a beeping system -- or, why do we constantly feel the need to ignore and override it? how does that overriding help us survive?

Color Orbs
in searching for a more nuanced way to measure my own energy, I came up with this. it's a variation on this moon journaling practice I did many years ago to log my emotions.

the idea is that energy is something which is:

multi-dimensional -- visualized as a glowing sphere in at least 3 (if not more) dimensions
emits color as mood or tone (not unlike the aurora borealis)
varying degrees of light intensity (illuminance)

in that sense, energy is something more similar to a metaphysical-emotional lightbulb, rather than a flattened barometer on two dimensions.

ongoing notes

I think that the Battery and Fuel models of measuring energy are useful in their brutish simplicity. knowing that I'm on orange battery mode, or in the lower quadrant of my fuel tank gives me clear directive on what to do with my day. maybe, yin yoga, a gentle mode of working, reading, napping, watching a movie, going to bed early.

but the color orb feels more... accurate, in that it's a finer blade. it gives me a type of personal weather report -- with which to develop a keener, more attuned relationship with my energetic resources. that's the whole point of this exercise, after all. cultivating a deeper intuition, and intimacy.

💌 I write a weekly newsletter on creative alchemy & world-building called guide.notes. I also have a podcast: botanical studies of internet magic.

growing a business, creative practice, wellbeingKening ZhuMarch 21, 2024energy studies