09/13/2019
question: what is something that brings you rest?
confession: i’m a recovering workaholic. i love to work. it brings me a lot of purpose. i love the feeling of being productive; the thought of being idle is terrifying. but i also feel a deep guilt for not being productive and, ironically, it’s paralyzing. it makes me especially susceptible to burnout. the type that you don’t know you’re in until you’re deep in the midst of it. it’s all kind of complicated, i know.
the other day, i spent a slow saturday morning exploring the streets of downtown san francisco doing something i haven’t done in a long while — a simple photowalk with fellow photographers put on by and the . it was so lovely and refreshing. something about that unhurried stroll with fellow film-loving creatives brought me back to simpler times, when photography was just a hobby, and there was no pressure to create for income, IG follows, and social affirmations.
don’t get me wrong, i am incredibly thankful for all of the opportunities i get— for this passion of mine to also be the way that i pay my bills... sometimes a simple nudge to earlier times can be such an effective “reset” for rest.
i’m learning to protect myself from burnout - to schedule in space for activities like this that bring me rest, to put some boundaries up, to say no in order to be more capable in spaces that really matter. it is the opposite of what feels natural to me — to say “no” in order to say a better “yes” — because, my goodness, is it easy to just people please and say “yes” all the time! I’m still learning... but i truly believe that practicing rest will ultimately make me more effective overall.
so friends, i’m curious. tell me where you are today. are you headed towards burnout? do you have some structures you’ve put in place to take better care of yourself? what is something that gives you life in the middle of all the busy?
-
