inspiration

a real rest

I am really, really quite proud of myself for taking a legitimate break. I know that 2013 is going to be a big and exciting year and I wanted to prepare for it fully. I had convinced myself that I definitely needed to be well-rested coming into the new year, but I wasn’t quite sure if it would actually happen.
The only time I’ve actually taken a real break was last year’s trip to Mexico. Other than that, I always have something big going on or lots of little things. Crew training consumed most of my breaks between high school and college. And during the summers I was always working on something or cooking up some sort of project.
I scheduled some blog posts, ignored my email inbox, and took entire afternoons off to explore and nap and knit and watch Netflix.
It. Was. Amazing.
The first few days were really challenging actually. Like clockwork, I was waking up at 5:05 unprompted by an unset alarm. Bodies are so weird how they get synced up to schedules… but, of course, the schedule was broken after two days of lounging in bed after the sun rose. Staying up to 2am staring at a screen is a lot more fun when it’s an indie film rather than an Excel spreadsheet.
Frankly, the break couldn’t have come at a better time. (Funny how things work out like that.) I was seriously beginning to feel frayed and completely run down. After months of soul searching, I decided to let go of a few things and will be tying up a few loose ends through the first quarter. I’m all for being super busy and driven and excelling, but I was (am?) overcommitted. It’s impossible to do things 100% well (or really even 90% well) when you’ve got too many things on your plate.
Right now, I feel like I have been plugged into the wall.
I went to bed really late last night because I was too deep into conversation to realize that it was nearing my wakeup call. I was expecting to feel gloomy about having to wake up at dawn, put on real clothes, and journey downtown for work. Instead, I nearly leapt out of bed. Completely ready to start the day.
Just like Starbucks’ return to the plain white cup, I am ready for normalcy and routine.
hello, 2013.


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17 Comments

Annie

it's always difficult to give ourselves a real rest, i think, but it's so necessary & refreshing! i took a good rest yesterday and just that one day has better prepared me to tackle the rest of the week.

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Apriljoy

For the next couple of days I'm definitely going to be taking a break as much as I can! I've even slept in until 10:30! I love it! It's great to take a break once in a while!

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briana luca

It's so great that you got to rest. Sometimes, despite the amount of work, you need to take a break and I've learned that the hard way. It's good that you're learning to take breaks, someone who works as hard as you do definitely deserves it!

Happy New Year, Carly 🙂

http://royallypink.blogspot.com

-Briana

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American-Vintage.org

Breaks are always wonderful! I'm currently on winter break from college and it has been so refreshing! I've had time to work on my blog and read and do absolutely nothing! The timing is perfect too because next semester will be crazy.

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Sarah Jean Grzybowski

Glad you took some time off! You deserve that and more! You're entitled to it! 🙂

<3 Sarah Jean

P.S.: I loved "Just like Starbucks' return to the plain white cup, I am ready for normalcy and routine." I'm looking forward to returning to normalcy, too! Can't wait to get back to school and get started with the new semester!

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Amanda

Yes yes yes! Learning how to rest is a good thing. Our cutlure is so into being constantly busy and overworked but it really doesn't make us all that productive or satisfied. good for you for resting and prioritizing.

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Grace Rice

Haha, I know what you mean! I'm so ready to get back to my boring routine, although it was nice to be super lazy over the holidays.

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