November 13, 2017

Life Overwhelm


Well, hey there. It's been awhile, hasn't it? Sometimes you just go through periods of time where all the nonessential life things have to go. That's been me for the last 6 weeks. I'm telling you, it's been a struggle. My calendar suddenly blew up and I had little say so over my days. To be clear, I didn't like it. I strongly didn't like it. I don't like to use the word hate, but if I did I'd say I hated it.


Happily I'm on the other side of it today and celebrating by taking a week of vacation. Nope, I'm not going anywhere. It's more a sacred week to create, read, nap and repeat. Guilt free. I'm not cleaning this week. I'm not cooking this week. I'm not making lunches this week (although I've yet to inform my little lunch eater). I am however, chauffeuring to school and doctor appointments (only because I have no choice and I am balancing the checkbook and paying bills because that right there is a hot mess that will only get hotter and messier if I don't.


But here's the thing, this week, I'm focusing on my own needs. Nobody else in my family struggles to focus on their own needs and I'm guessing it's the same for you and yet when we decide to focus on our own needs it feels selfish. There are probably a portion of you thinking right now that I'm selfish. That's okay. I am past the point in my life where other people's opinions about my life matter. I don't spend the energy required to worry about such things. It's okay for us to stand up and say we've had enough. We're burnt out and need more for ourselves than spending all of our energy serving others. I'm blessed to have a husband who is understanding. Who, when faced with a distraught wife, says I'll cook dinner all week and do whatever I can to help. I also believe that we teach people how to treat us and let's not teach them to take us for granted.


This has been a year of learning lessons, many of which I would rather not have learned but which it turns out I needed to learn. One thing I've learned is that I cannot be everything to everyone. That can be a hard one for people. I feel like I'm still playing catch up with my energy level and I've learned to unplug to save my sanity.


The most important lesson I've learned this year is that if you don't feed your soul, you'll starve your spirit. I've had to repeat that to myself many times and now it is starting to become part of my very fiber. So these past several weeks I worked hard to find the contentment in the chaos which is no easy feat. For me that meant picking up a project when I had a few spare moments.


For me there is no feeling like being creatively charged. It creates a general feeling of happiness and well being that is hard to match. All feels right in my little world if that creative spark is lit. When it's not the opposite is true. And it's not pretty. I create because I have to, because my spirit cannot exist without it.


So here I am with a fresh week ahead of me and so many creative projects calling my name. I'm hoping for a week filled with sewing, knitting, embroidery, photography, art and reading and hoping you will claim some time for yourself to do the things that make you, you!
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18 comments:

  1. You go Jen! Wonderfully stated. I agree whole-heartedly. Enjoy your week. You've earned it. Sending happy, peaceful thoughts your way!

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  2. i hope you enjoy your week, jen! i love what you said about unplugging to save your sanity... when i have too many things going at once, i'm a grumpy mess! creative time always helps! thanks for the reminder, friend! thinking of you!

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  3. Enjoy your week and recharge. Love you socks and last year I finally took the plunge and now love knitting socks. I'm feeling like you right now and need time to unplug and save my sanity before it is all gone! Peace and calm for your week..

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  4. Hi Jen....
    You took the words right out of my mouth! Wish I had your grit and determination...I will work on this!
    Enjoy your week...love to see your handiwork.
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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  5. Enjoy your recharging-your-batteries week! You are not selfish at all: you are smart. Smart enough to know when you've had enough. I have never in my entire married life taken a week off from cleaning or cooking, except for maybe when I've had surgeries. What the fresh hell is wrong with me?! lol I need to take some lessons from you. Seems I never have enough time for anything creative, because I'm too busy doing all the house stuff. Not that my husband or son would care if the house wasn't "perfect", but I'm the one who's anal about that. And then with the cooking, neither my husband nor son cooks; and my hubby works long hours where he doesn't have the time. If I took a break from cooking - which I do sometimes - we have take-out. That's good enough sometimes.

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  6. Welcome back, I missed you. What you said about taking time/effort to nurture oneself is so true. You cannot give fully from empty hands. Gail

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  7. Yay for you and taking some time for yourself - not selfish at all -- you are so wise! Creativity feeds the soul and you are so good at everything you do!

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  8. I've missed you, Jen. You're doing just fine. Don't let anyone get in the way of you taking care of you. Praise God for his blessings.
    Sharon

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  9. I've been wondering how you're doing. Do take care of yourself. I like how you worded that: If you don't feed your soul you'll starve your spirit. What a wonderful quote!
    Brenda

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  10. Oh I do hope you are enjoying your week... it sounds just the thing and not at all selfish

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  11. Congrats for taking some YOU time! I wrote about the very same thing yesterday. I called it putting the brakes on. Why is it that everyone's needs comes before our own?!!!!

    I am glad you are taking a rest from it all. I call it 'laying low' and I am taking a laying low day...except I had to change the sheets and clean this bedroom to make it feel 'restful'...but the rest of the day is my own. xo Diana

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  12. I don't feel you are selfish at all. Everyone deserves time to rest, heal, create, dream. xo

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  13. Very well said. I too struggle. I hope you enjoy your week.

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  14. Sometimes you just need to unplug and let yourself rest. I usually do that with a good book by the fire....I think I'm due a day like that soon!! Enjoy your week!

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  15. Missed your posts...Glad you are back. Wish you a lovely time with yourself and by yourself.

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  16. So glad to see you back in this space. All these socks are so lovely! You're absolutely right about needing to feed your soul and do creative things. Makers gotta make! We've had a tough year, too, and I've felt adrift when I haven't made the time to knit, sew, or do things that make me feel like myself. Onward and upward...

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  17. Hi Jen, I've just discovered your blog through another's recommendation. I feel I am reading all about me through your blog posts. I've struggled the past few years to get to where I want to be, to put myself first, to stop trying to please everyone ... long lesson that one was ... yes, it's true, we cannot please everyone so I am no longer going to try. It has been liberating for me to learn these lessons in life, albeit a bit late. I am on the cusp now of a new me. My hubby and I just took our first real vacation too after 15 years of marriage. The next one will be sooner rather than later. Just what we both needed and not before time! Craft work is so good for the soul. You are so right there. I saw a palm reader years ago who seemed a bit freaked about what she was reading of me... I wish now I could have asked for more but I was taking it all with a grain of salt then. Her advice, I have never forgotten, was to do something with my hands, make things. I totally understand that now. How good for the broken soul it is. Thank you for the honest posts. I shall be reading your blog for ever more. Katie

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    Replies
    1. Katie,

      Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving your kind comment. I think you and i are probably in very good company!

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