There is a Murphy's law that says the busy you are the more likely your health is going to take a serious derailment right in the middle of your deadlines.
I have three the month I am juggling. Three deadlines, creeping up on me with aluminum bats affectionately named Marla, Charlene, and Tonya. With the kids on break they are sort of hovering over my shoulder, impatiently waiting to slam me upside the head.
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So why do I have three metaphorical eager thugs mouth-breathing in my happy space?
Let's talk about self care.
This February, like many semi functional adults (particularly from that sub group of masochists called parents) I caught a flu. Pretty typical fare. My kids and husband all caught a bug of some kind. For a solid week we were a pit of germs and misery. My kids sprung back like dandelions, my husband crawled along with dayquil and cough drops and I....
I spiraled into a second round of 'flu' that turned out to be bronchitis edging toward something worse. A week and a half later, I'm sitting in the Emergency clinic with a very nice doctor lady telling me I came in just in time. What is that? 'Just in time.' The 'Doom song' is now playing through my head.
I am now feeling much better after a high octane round of antibiotics and an inhaler. But I am still exhausted, light headed, and completely run down. I am behind on my writing, oh ho, am I behind, but pushing too hard and too fast to catch up could just topple my still fragile physical health.
It's a problem a lot of us face, the clutch and pull of responsibilities and goals against our health, which is more important. You health, physical, mental, and emotional, must come first.
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This is why the occasional pampering is so important.
I used to beat myself up over 'me time'. That I had too much to do and too many things to do and I didn't 'have time' to spend a day out, enjoying myself. It took far too long to understand why I needed those days out so badly. An embarrassing amount of time.
Now I make it a point to sneak out to movies for a mental and creative break. (Did you all see Black Panther yet, because it is freaking phenomenal!) It can be a lunch date, or a massage, or window shopping or chatting on my buddy's couch for three hours. It doesn't matter what the activity is because its purpose is to refill the drained tank of my mental reserves. And it checks a different box than relaxing and reading a book , which is a challenge in a house where noise never stops.
Now getting sick is like being reminded with a hammer to the toe to take care of your body but the need for a mental breather is usually the one that slides until we are ready to crumble.
I can't stress enough that if you are feeling constantly overwhelmed, you probably are and need to that much needed breather, both for your general happiness and the quality of your work. Your creativity and your passion suffers when your energy is utterly zapped, so self pampering and 'me time' are vital to as a creator.
And those hovering deadlines? You'll meet them. It might hurt a little, but you'll meet them. It's usually best to catch up in gradual chunks than push to catch up all at once. I'm getting closer to happy median every day.
