Winter is over
Winter is over, despite what the flurries outside my window tell me. The rush of spring is in full force; frenetic energy has taken over, leaving me breathless at times. My wintering is officially over.
I'm harnessing this energy as best I can while recognizing that it is a slippery slope for me. I've been here before. I know this road.
My job now is to recognize the hazards that lie ahead and keep the ground beneath me. To keep my grace and be kind to myself in all the ways I've learned over the last three years.
It would be easy to burn out again. Too easy.
So, I'm taking a step back and making sure the lessons of the past are with me.
Saying no
I'm reminding myself that I can't do it all. That I have to let go of my never-ending to-do list. There will never be enough time to get it all done. Never.
Investing in my health - mentally and physically
I've been sitting in front of a computer more, so I must move as much as I can. My husband and I joined a gym a few months ago, and we've incorporated a morning workout relatively painlessly. I'm proud of us for investing in our well-being in this way.
I'm also proud when I know I need rest. It's been a little harder to find in the last few weeks, but rest is just as important as movement. And rest comes in many different forms. Getting together with friends. Planning an Eastern Montana road trip with my mom. Reading a good book. Sleeping in. Taking a day off from the gym. Listening to Cowboy Carter over and over. These are all ways I've found rest in the last few weeks.
Grounding myself
Despite the ramped-up activity in my life, I'm more committed to my daily writing practice. Even if that writing remains unread by anyone else. My morning writing had been sporadic leading up to my mom moving in. I struggled to write every day once she arrived. The change in routine was challenging. In the last month, I've recommitted to it. I know the difference it makes for me.
These lessons feel simple when I write them down.
It is anything but simple to action them. It takes intentionality that often gets lost when I get "busy" with life. When things come at me fast and furiously. When I take on big projects.
Which is why I must remember the most important lesson of my burnout journey:
I am enough.
P.S. It's Give Big!
Last year, I asked you all to make a difference for an organization near and dear to my heart: Pride House. And you did!
While I'm no longer serving on the board of Pride House, it remains one of the most important organizations to me because I know the difference it makes in the lives of kids who need this space. Like the 8th grader who lives an hour away from Bozeman who came to Pride House to celebrate the end of their middle school career. Or the kids who come every week to simply relax and be themselves, without judgement or fear.
Your support will go towards supplies and snacks, outreach at events like Bozeman Pride (happening May 27-June 2), and covering costs like a $1,500 insurance premium.
Most importantly, your support tells the LGBTQIA+ youth in Bozeman and beyond that they are loved and wanted in this world. That there are people who care about them and their well-being. Who believe that they not only should survive, but thrive.
Will you join me in supporting Pride House?
