Hello dear one,
I’m writing to you today from a different place. Not physically, but mentally.
The last few weeks have been full of energy. My newsletters, my life, my daily tasks were all full of busy, excited energy. I’m sure you noticed. I’m sure you felt it.
In the last few weeks I have had TWO huge announcements – one of those launches was even more than a normal launch – it was creating an entire movement! A glorious movement surrounding the crowdfunding campaign for the EMBODY Oracle Card Deck (which I invite you to RSVP for here if you haven’t already…seriously, RSVP…).
There is SO much that goes into a launch. I’ve been writing content, strategizing, editing content, scheduling, editing content again, creating, and re-editing content for months! The process has been thrilling and exhausting. Now it’s done – it’s released out to the world, just in time for me to take a few days off for my birthday.
My birthday was thoroughly relaxing. I enjoyed every minute of it.
But then, as soon as I stepped back into the work zone, it hit me.
BAM.
Stress.
This is something I’ve come to recognize as a pattern. I think many people go through this. We go and we go and we go and we ride that excited energy, and we don’t feel the stress until we stop going. Then it hits us like a ton of bricks. You know. Like a looney toons character literally being flattened on the sidewalk by a huge pile of bricks (they’re fine, they expand again – it just hurts a bit).
It makes you want to say, Well, F*** you too, universe. This is what I get for taking care of myself?!
It feels like the stress is a direct result of the decision to relax. If I just kept going, I wouldn’t feel stressed. I would just be getting things done.
That’s the natural thought pattern.
And I’m here to tell you that it’s MESSED UP.
Get it out of your head. That’s not the way you want to treat yourself.
We need rest. That’s why, when you take three days off after two huge launches, your body and mind are screaming at you. Not because you stopped, but because you weren’t listening when you were going.
I love what I do. I have so much passion and excitement for my work. I pour my heart and soul into it. And sometimes when I’m working on something new, despite my best intentions, I push through overwhelm and fail to listen to what my body and mind are needing.
Passion is in my blood. It’s all consuming. It can easily trump self-care if I don’t reign it in. And then, after a big project, I end up feeling stressed, wiped out, energetically drained.
The ideal, of course, is to find balance while we are pouring our energy into something. That’s what I’m going to be writing about in my newsletters this week.l That balance can feel like a high bar, and it probably might be. But when we fail to achieve that balance, here’s what we can do:
Listen. Even if we arrive late. Whenever you hear your body speaking to you (or screaming at you), listen. Instead of jumping to conclusions about what you should do or not do or change or try, listen.
You have the answers.
Your body and mind are telling you what they need. Always.
Here’s to taking care of ourselves!
More tips on finding that balance are coming later this week, keep your eyes open.