No More Pressure!

My nine to five job has become more and more demanding and that along with a professional organization I’ve become pretty active in has decreased my free time quite a bit.  That career that I never really planning on having?  It’s happening, peeps.  I’m learning that life never really works the way you think it will.  And I can kick and scream about it or I can gracefully take advantage of the opportunities given to me and make the best and most of it.  Granted, I have to remind myself to be graceful daily!

So, all that work and learning and training myself to be more disciplined and focused on the important tasks is happening a lot.  And other, more creative things have been neglected.  I’ve really been struggling with that neglect over the past few months.  It feels wrong and like I’ve given up on a major dream.  I’ve only recently figured out that I haven’t given up – I’m just in a season where I’m focused on something else.  And that is okay.  Again, reminding myself of that daily.    Over the past few months, I’ve handed the reins of Craft Storage Ideas over to its new owners.   And just last week made the decision to step down from the two design teams I’ve been a part of.  That neglect I talked about?  It created a lot of guilt and a lot of exhausting self-talk about letting my teams down.  And I’ve had enough of that.  I want to be focused on work when I need to be and have fun when I am not focused on work.  So, no more pressure!    I’ve let myself off of the hook and hope that maybe in a little bit I’ll have that creative spark again. 

And even while all that’s been going on this summer has been full of some really amazing moments.  I posted this quote on Facebook a little while ago and it really is true (except the chocolate part…can we substitute “eating a piece of really good toast” for “eating a square of chocolate” J:

“…I really believe that happiness is a collection of small, pleasurable experiences, like buying flowers or eating a square of chocolate. I try to have a few of these moments every day.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter

I’ll be back soon to share some of those moments.