First of all, the beginning of the summer was rather busy and stressful, and I felt I needed a break. True, I didn’t plan to take such a long break, but it seems that when you interrupt a commitment, even temporarily, it becomes that much harder to recommit. I’m sure this is true for everything, from dieting to exercise to writing to marriage to getting control of your finances. But the key is to remember that it’s never too late to start, or to start again, and that the sooner you do it, the easier it will be.
Second, I find it much harder to organize my time and activities when my family is home all summer long and there is no ongoing routine. Although my kids did have activities in the summer, they never lasted for longer than a week or two, and some of them involved a fair bit of driving or other parental involvement, and without my school-year routine I just couldn’t find the mental space to write on a regular basis. It’s funny, because I did often have the time, but without that knowledge that several days a week I would be in control of a block of a few hours, I couldn’t settle down to write. Third, there is something to be said for just letting go and floating through the day without having any plans or goals. I personally find this very hard to do, being a very goal-oriented, structure-dependent person, but at a certain point I realized that it was futile to resist the call of summer’s disorder, and I surrendered.
I think it all comes back to balance: balancing your own needs with those of your family, balancing work mode with vacation mode, learning to let go and go with the flow, and not being afraid to pick it up and start again when you can.
As a teacher and mother I find there’s a secondary New Year’s celebration that takes place in the fall; this is when I really feel the need to make New Year’s resolutions and to set goals and establish what I want to accomplish over the next few seasons. So here’s my list for this year:
- Blog regularly
- Write everyday
- Exercise regularly
- Continue to gain control over my fibromyalgia through exercise, healthy eating, good regular sleep, and most importantly by aiming for balance in my life: work-family balance; activity-rest balance, head-heart balance. In fact, I think the balance issue is so important that I hope to base a few upcoming blog entries on the topic.
- I’m also planning to follow a creativity program called The Artist's Way
; more on that next time.
