This past month has been filled with all kinds of twists and turns to our lives. Luckily, they've all been good twists and turns! My husband and I have been working on our new house renovations like crazy. It's coming along quite nicely and we're starting to see the house look like an actual home, rather than a massive dump of sheet rock, dust, unfinished walls, and floor boards.
Last year, I had the pleasure of reading You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero. I couldn't find it in the pile of boxes in my in-laws basement to tell you the specifics, but there is a chapter called "The Drama of Overwhelm". I want to talk about that. This particular chapter has run over and over in my head this past year. I'll get to that later...
As far as the house goes, the ceilings have all been scraped and are ready for our ceiling and wall guys (what do we call those guys? Contractors? Tapers? Wall and Ceiling Professionals?) to do the knock down ceilings. Our walls are almost ready for painting, the wood floors will be laid in the kitchen tomorrow, and the rest of the main level will be sanded and prepared for staining this week and next. Next week we'll also start painting the main living space, kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms. Then, the floors will be finished and then hopefully we can start moving in!!
It's been a whirlwind of a month; going to work during the week, working on the house during the weeknights, fitting in weddings, cabins, and other plans on the weekends. And in the midst of all of this, I decided I didn't have enough going on so I should just get a new job too.
I started my new job a week and a half ago. I have officially strayed away from the Graphic Designer role and have taken on a new undertaking as a Marketing Coordinator at a small, family-owned jewelry company that specializes in unique wedding bands made out of deer antler, meteorite and dinosaur bone. So not only is this a new job, but it's an entirely different role than I have ever been in. Those of you that don't really know the difference, see below:
Graphic Designer: the art or profession of visual communication that combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience. Typically uses a Mac computer.
Marketing Coordinator: Markets products by developing and implementing marketing and advertising campaigns; tracking sales data; maintaining promotional materials inventory; planning meetings and trade shows; maintaining databases; preparing reports. Typically uses a PC computer.
Yeah... so that's completely new. Of course I've worked on marketing teams as a graphic designer, so it's not like I'm going in totally blind, but this is still a new territory for me. I'm no longer working on a mac, which as any graphic designer knows, is catastrophic. Luckily, I have my mac at home so I can continue to keep my skills fresh :). I'm also no longer doing much layout and design/production work either, which will take some getting used to.
I'm not writing this blog post to tell you about the updates on our house renovations, or to complain about working on a PC or describe to you how different this new job is compared to my last job. I usually try to make a point in my blogs and I want to make sure I get to it.
I'm overwhelmed. I have a LOT of changes going on in my life and my brain struggles to keep up. We are renovating a new home, living with my in-laws, taking our dog to puppy/obedience classes, and on top of all of that, I decided to start a new job in a new field. Taking on all of this information and responsibility is draining, exciting, exhilarating and overall, exhausting.
I would encourage you to read You Are A Badass. It's a great book, easy to read and the author is hysterical. Since I can't find my book since I'm currently living out of boxes, I have no other details from the chapter but I will tell you this. The name of the chapter I'm referring to, "The Drama of Overwhelm", says it all. Because that's what being overwhelmed is. It's all drama. Yes, you have a lot going on. We all do. But the way you choose to think about it and the way you decide to deal with the responsibilities in your life is just that. A choice.
This week was hard. I thought, I've bit off way more than I can chew. This is too much at once, too new, too overwhelming. I need to schedule time just to breathe. I haven't seen some of my friends in months. Why did I think we could renovate a home, live with the in-laws, train our puppy, get a new job and do it all with flawless ease? What was I thinking?
And that, my friends, is the drama of overwhelm.
We let all of these things in our lives build up to this mountain of responsibilities. The weight pushes down on our chests like an elephant and we consider these responsibilities a burden and an annoyance.
But step back. Are these responsibilities bad things? Are they progressing you forward and getting you to where you want to be? Will they help you become who you want to be?
In my case, I know my responsibilities are great things and yes, they are progressing me forward in my personal and professional life. But I still get overwhelmed by the amount of time and energy spent on these things. That is why it is so important to step back and do what you need to do for your health and for your happiness.
For instance, tonight I had the option of going to do some more work at our house, or staying home, blogging, drinking wine and catching up on Pretty Little Liars on Netflix. There is so much I could be doing at the house, but obviously I chose the latter. I'm already feeling happier, more energized and ready to finish out my week on a positive note. By taking time for yourself, you're doing you (and everyone else) a favor by relaxing and re-energizing so you can be the best you!
Do what's right for you. Are you tired, exhausted, drained, angry, depressed, anxious or any other negative feeling? If so, you need to pencil in some you time and take care of that shit.
Your friend,
Meg
