Welcome to The Pause, dear friend. Come on in and make yourself comfortable.
Well, somehow it’s the middle of November. From summer on it’s felt like life is unfolding at record speeds and I find myself curious: When did this shift in pace actually happen? Is this how it felt in the pre-times? Does it feel this way because I’m getting older? Is it ever going to slow down?
TBD on the answers, but the questions gave me the interest to pause for a minute and think about how I’ve been overbooking myself lately, so I thought we might take a moment to explore that.
Settle in, take a deep breath, and get ready to pause in 3…2…1…
🗓 Overbooked
I love putting stuff on my calendar. I love booking date nights with Kevin. I love finding activities for me and Jazz to do on our Fridays off. I love scheduling dinners with friends, visits with family, and morning walks with moms at Jazzy’s school. As far as I’m concerned, Calendar is King.
…but lately, I’ve been feeling.. overbooked?
It feels absurd to say that out loud given how deeply I was begging for the opportunity to pack my calendar not even two years ago. But alas, here I am—after months of saying yes to everything in an attempt to make up for the time I felt was lost—acknowledging, perhaps sacrilegiously, that my calendar being packed to the brim with activities isn’t doing it for me the way I thought I would.
I’m guessing this is a natural pendulum swing. I had to say no for so long that I went on a Hulk-Smash YES revolt, and went from depressed and depleted —> ecstatic and excited —> overbooked and exhausted all in the matter of about six months.
Without really realizing it, I swung too far the other way.
I know many of you are in this boat with me given our conversations that have had some degree of, “wtf, when did I get so busy?” rhetoric. We’re busy going out again and getting ourselves some of that life we were craving so deeply during quarantine and that is certainly something to be celebrated..
…and also, overbooking myself and becoming too busy is something I don’t want to bring back into my life. Quarantine was f*cked in a lot of ways, but it was also unexpectedly beautiful in a lot of others. I got to experience some incredible life changes simply because I had to stay put and keep my circle small— things like getting to go to pick-up and drop-off as a family most weekdays, waking up and making pancakes from scratch every Sunday morning, and having nothing on the calendar but going on a long walk with Kev and Jazzy.
Those little moments were what got me through and it’s important to me that—as the GCal invites heat up and the ability to do more expands—those quiet moments don’t lose out to the shinier/newer activities presenting themselves on the daily.
So today, let’s take a minute and check in. What’s feeling good on your calendar? What’s not? Have you been saying yes to things you really want to say no to? Have you been carving out time to rest? Recover? Be present? And if not, can you find some time in the next few weeks to swing the pendulum back towards center again?
⏸ Pause & Reconnect
**Get curious. Have fun. There are no right or wrong answers; just what’s true for you.**
What’s feeling good on your calendar? What’s not?
Have you been saying yes to things you really want to say no to?
Have you been carving out time to rest? Recover? Be present? If not, can you find some time in the next few weeks to swing the pendulum back towards center again?
My love to you and yours through the holiday.
Until next time. 🖤
~ L