More Thoughts on Balancing Life
When you assess your own life, consider it with the eye of a gardener.
Underneath the surface lies rich, fertile soil waiting to nurture the seeds you sow.
Even more than you can imagine will grow there if given a chance.
― Steve Goodier, Author
As I re-read my post from yesterday on balancing my work, personal and creative lives, I realized that the 31 Days Challenge is causing me issues with balancing the personal and creative parts of my life.
One of the goals that I set on at the beginning of this was to develop a body of work for my own future reference, something which I feel I’m accomplishing and very well too – I’m satisfied with it so far. But some things are missing, gone by the wayside, as I post daily this month:
- Evening yoga / stretching
- Sitting quietly to reflect and contemplate
- Getting other things done (the piles are getting big again)
- Following up on E-mails and correspondence
I plan to finish out the 31 Days. Already I’m enjoying referring back to some of what I did, whether to encourage myself or remind myself of my goals. But it takes me 1 to 2 hours each night to write out my thoughts, pick & process photos, and edit it all to my satisfaction. A few nights, I skipped my yoga / stretching when I realized I could do one or the other, but not both. I need to be careful to not be doing that very often.
Sitting quietly to reflect and contemplate has – unfortunately – been a bottom priority for me, even before I started this challenge. It frustrates me, because it’s important and I enjoy it. I need to make this a higher priority AND actually do it. My personal journals fulfill this purpose for me also, but that’s fallen off this month. There are several things I need to puzzle out and I’m not getting it done.
As for the other chores and follow-ups, they’re not usually fun and it’s amazingly easy to find ways to avoid them. But given enough time, they drive me nuts and interfere with nurturing my creativity. It’s like the day I cleaned the house instead of working on pictures. My energy was high that day and as a result, I resented cleaning the house far less than usual. It would have been a shame to sit and work on pictures, when I actually wanted to clean.
How is this nurturing my creativity? As I’d doodled this out, I realized I needed to list it and refer to it when setting my priorities / expectations at the end of this month. Although I’m enjoying posting daily, most likely I will blog less frequently in November. For now, my priority is to post daily as I nurture my creativity by discovering what works and what doesn’t. These other needs will have to fit around that.
To see everything I’m doing with my 31 Days of Nurturing My Creativity, click here.
To see what others are doing with their 31 Days project, click here.
31 Days Creativity Write 31 Days 31 Days Acadia National Park balancing work & family contemplation Eagle Lake Maine Mount Desert Island nurturing creativity priorities prioritizing time Rahima Baldwin Dancy reflection Steve Goodier work life balance Write 31 Days write31days yoga
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I am a backyard adventurer, philosopher and observer, recording my life in journals and photographs. Visit my blog at www.livingtheseasons.com.
Living The Seasons 
That photo is stunning, Nancy! I know what you mean about losing the balance–it’s so easy to do. I am working hard to keep exercising, but it only takes out-of-town visitors or a holiday to throw it off. I am inspired to work harder to maintain the balance. Thanks for the reminder.
You’re welcome! I’m glad it helped. I’ve really appreciated the feedback on this project as I can never be certain if anyone gets something out of it besides me.
I really appreciate your posts…because they make so much sense to me. I have tried visiting other blogs, and sometimes I don’t get it. But I understand your posts, and I think this is important for us all to consider. Sometimes, especially when we are all trying to complete a challenge, all forms of self care take a back seat. Thanks for the reminder that we have to come up for air!
Thanks so much Maxine! That’s another wonderful compliment from you. I really want at the end of this to have a body of work to refer back to on days I’m discouraged or don’t feel like caring. I’m glad it makes sense to you. It seems to make sense to me, but that doesn’t mean I explained it very well for everyone else.
You really did clarify though what I was trying to say – we have to remember to come up for air! I have to remind myself of that.
Queenie (below) is another new friend through this challenge. I told her the same thing I have here for you – when I set out my expectations, I nearly wrote that I wanted to gain some new followers on my blog. I didn’t set it out though, because I decided that wasn’t why I was doing the challenge. I made new friends anyhow though and it’s been great! I’ve enjoyed reading your posts and am so happy you’ve taken time to leave me comments as well. Thank you!
I too Nancy, took this challenge for myself, I just really wanted to finish something. I hoped that I would maybe get a comment, by my regular blog, Ive only ever gotten 1 comment – on anything ever. It has been so lovely getting to know fellow bloggers, seeing (when I can) what others are up to. I think one of the reasons I am drawn to your and Queenie’s blogs, and have a harder time with the word only 700 – 800 word posts is because you all have such beautiful pictures I can see. I’m so grateful!
You’re welcome! I read your reply several times as it really touched my heart. I’m glad you’re enjoying my comments and visits. God really directed me, didn’t He, when I chose yours at random to look at and decided it looked good enough to follow.
I’ll tell you though, according to WordPress I have almost 400 followers. Only a few leave regular comments and only a few more than that show up with “likes” or an occasional comment. The numbers don’t really mean much. What has meaning is making friends and having a relationship. I’m so grateful for my blogging friends who show up regularly, leave comments, and give me feedback.
Keep with it. It grows slowly, but in a few years you’ll realize that you’ve made friends out there.
If God, led you here, it was because I prayed!
Don’t you just love it! I’m glad you prayed and your little icon caught my eye.
So challenging! If I only had a few more hours every day I could get everything done(not).
I actually wrote about that last month (you probably weren’t reading the blogs yet). But my conclusion was that nope, I wouldn’t get it all done. Another hour a day still wouldn’t be enough.
Which is kind of sad too – I have SO much I want to get done.
https://livingtheseasons.com/2014/09/04/if-i-had-an-extra-hour/
A few years ago we went to Acadia National Park, it was beautiful just like this photograph! Nice work.
Thanks Becky! I have other shots from last year too. Part of why my daughter wanted to go there was because of the trip her father and I took.
https://livingtheseasons.com/?s=acadia
Nancy
I think many of us are feeling the same way you are now that we are so far along in our writing challenge. I have found that some of my goals are slightly altered as a result of this challenge (such as reading more blogs instead of just writing my own), and I am seeing greater importance of some of my other goals (exercise, planning meals to avoid eating out, etc.). Thanks for sharing your thoughts; I always look forward to reading them!
Thanks for the feedback! It really helps to know if my thoughts are resonating with someone.
It was funny – I went looking for some new blogs to follow as part of this and you came and found me! I nearly set out a goal of getting more blog readers and decided that no, that wasn’t why I was doing it. But I’ve made new friends and it’s been really nice. This is what I like about blogging – having pen pals that I can share with and who share back with me.
That gorgeous photo makes me want to visit Acadia National Park. I would love to get to Campobelo too. Sometimes the places a couple days drive away are the last places we go see.
You’d hardly be the first one to notice that you’re not visiting the places closest to you! There’s still some time to get over here before the color change is done (so go – go).