I love this line, "More space will only add more depth, and it helps to feel creatively aligned and energised when we tend to our ideas, or they can lose their beauty and impact." That for sure resonates with me, giving myself the time and space to do things in their own time, like birthing them when they are ready, instead of me trying to rush them into existence. And when I do wait on them, they are more beautiful and impactful. Amen! XO
Hi Sarah, Just came across your post and oh boy, did this resonate with me. I am a recovering CPA who spent the first 30 years of my career caught up in the hustle and bustle of a demanding career while raising 2 girls. Almost 10 years ago, after a battle with breast cancer, I left my position as partner and started my own consulting practice. Illness has a way of changing what is important in life for sure!
During that time I rediscovered my interest in art and began taking classes and truly finding myself again. I have been pursuing my art practice along side my consulting practice but am one again ready to pivot into my art practice and retirement full time.
I am ready for a slowness and presence and am working on a plan to make it a reality by this time next year.
Ready to live life in a way that is nourishing and fulfilling and not based upon societal expectations and guilt of feeling like I haven’t done enough.
Thank you for creating this space to share how you're navigating the seasonality of your inner landscape. These conversations are so important and rarely had--as a mom of an almost two-year old and a chronicly burned out person, I'm still unlearning many ways of managing my energy and setting realistic standards for my capacity.
It's a HGUE learning curve as it goes against the mainstream messages we hear all the time and see as examples for how to be successful.
Gentle perservation, honoring my capacity (limits) while trusting in Divine timing, and listening to my body are all ways I am learning to embody a different way. ✨
P.S. I have a practice called Creative Contemplation which is all about integrating the external and internal seasons using different rituals and tools in community with others. I'd love to dream up a future collaboration if that resonates with you!
There really is so much to learn and unlearn as we carve the path towards living in more aligned ways. It takes a lot of grit and guts to keep talking about it.
I’m always open to collaboration. I have a Notelets on Nurture series, which I share on the occasional Sunday, if you’d like to write something for that. My email is sarah@thesearethedays.co ☺️
Thank you for this Sarah: your reflections resonate with me deeply as I’ve been doing some radical reprioritising myself, and wrapping my head around my capacity and energy right now. Have a good week ✨
You are skilled at managing your capacity and energy, Astrid, so I know you’ll find a flow that suits you. It feels like a time for deep recalibration. So many of us are feeling it 💫
Thank you Sarah for your kind words! What I personally find so interesting (and annoying at times 😅) is that even though I am skilled at this, something will come up, something will shift or change and I'll need to recalibrate. All part of the game I guess!
Well I’ve been deliberating over my brand colours and styling, then realised I was procrastinating and needed to shift my attention to other things, so this branding expert needs to take her own advice at times. Continually recalibrating 😅
It’s so powerful to truly honour our own unique rhythms… and I think it’s so important to keep coming back to ‘check in’ with ourselves and see if we are running our business as we think we ‘should’ or as something that truly reflects our own individual energy and capacity in our life season. Having a second baby has radically altered my own capacity… so I resonate a lot and love your invitations to consider. This was a beautiful piece thank you Sarah. Imagine if we all ran our businesses like this… I think things would look very different. Xxx
The world would be a far more compassionate place, wouldn’t it ☺️
I hadn’t quite appreciated just how different life would be with two, and the experience with Lowen is so, so different. In my naivety, I had expected a similar return to work, but the nursery settling in period may be a long one. I’ll be happy as long as we all get to a place where we’re comfortable though 💛
Yes! I'd be delighted to talk about that. It really does feel like a silent thing we're experiencing, but it's massively impacting our lives and my work. Maybe drop me an email with some May dates? Mondays and Fridays are usually best for me. I'd say Tuesday and Thursdays but I've no idea what those will look like or if Lowen will be settled by then 🥹
So glad to read you’re slowly feeling better as the weather gets warmer and the outer energies return, too! Really so excited for the podcast! And yess, 100% our capacity tells us so much about what we need. Rest up well and take it slow, even “just” early signs of burnout are no joke, been there too. Xx
I loved this, Sarah. I’m also self-employed, and so is my husband. It’s sometimes tiring to always be chasing that next project, client, paycheck, etc. But I’ve found that when life feels stressful, to do the opposite of what it feels like you have to do (which is go, go, go). Instead, I slow down and do something for myself (whether that’s writing for my own Substack or getting out for a hike). It’s funny how things fall into place so much easily when you aren’t forcing it
Working for yourself can be a bit ‘feast or famine’ but, I agree, when pushing less we seem to achieve more! I read a piece on here recently about pacing yourself, something like ‘slow down to speed up’ and it totally resonated. I definitely feel more efficient when I look after my needs ☺️
Oooh Sarah, I love this! Every word resonates with me. I really like how you're going straight to the point in the very first paragraph. No sugarcoating.
Motherhood contributed to this process for me too... How could it not?! In more ways than one, because it was motherhood that made me realise that I'm neurodivergent and that it was the core of my burnout and inability to cope with "more, more, more."
I started having health issues in 2018/2019 due to extreme fatigue. It all started deepening in 2020 and onwards. I'd be lying if I said I found some magic cure - I'll just acknowledge I'm currently deeply into the journey of learning, being kinder to myself and respecting the limits my body and mind need.
It sounds like we’ve been walking a similar path. My chronic fatigue started in 2018 after I lost the ability to move one night and 2019 was an incredibly challenging year of experimentation to find my way back to me. I found that “being kinder to myself” was the only way too. No diagnosis. Just finding my own way through 💛
And, yes, no skirting around today. I had something of a sticky plaster to rip off in order to get back into the flow of writing and sharing so went all in!
I love this line, "More space will only add more depth, and it helps to feel creatively aligned and energised when we tend to our ideas, or they can lose their beauty and impact." That for sure resonates with me, giving myself the time and space to do things in their own time, like birthing them when they are ready, instead of me trying to rush them into existence. And when I do wait on them, they are more beautiful and impactful. Amen! XO
Absolutely. This is something I’m feeling so strongly in this season of life and work. Glad it resonated with you, too 💛
Hi Sarah, Just came across your post and oh boy, did this resonate with me. I am a recovering CPA who spent the first 30 years of my career caught up in the hustle and bustle of a demanding career while raising 2 girls. Almost 10 years ago, after a battle with breast cancer, I left my position as partner and started my own consulting practice. Illness has a way of changing what is important in life for sure!
During that time I rediscovered my interest in art and began taking classes and truly finding myself again. I have been pursuing my art practice along side my consulting practice but am one again ready to pivot into my art practice and retirement full time.
I am ready for a slowness and presence and am working on a plan to make it a reality by this time next year.
Ready to live life in a way that is nourishing and fulfilling and not based upon societal expectations and guilt of feeling like I haven’t done enough.
Look forward to reading more from you.
Thanks for sharing your story, Sheryl. I love it! Proof that it’s never too late to pursue those creative dreams 💭
Exactly!
Thank you for creating this space to share how you're navigating the seasonality of your inner landscape. These conversations are so important and rarely had--as a mom of an almost two-year old and a chronicly burned out person, I'm still unlearning many ways of managing my energy and setting realistic standards for my capacity.
It's a HGUE learning curve as it goes against the mainstream messages we hear all the time and see as examples for how to be successful.
Gentle perservation, honoring my capacity (limits) while trusting in Divine timing, and listening to my body are all ways I am learning to embody a different way. ✨
P.S. I have a practice called Creative Contemplation which is all about integrating the external and internal seasons using different rituals and tools in community with others. I'd love to dream up a future collaboration if that resonates with you!
What a generous comment. Thanks, Mariah.
There really is so much to learn and unlearn as we carve the path towards living in more aligned ways. It takes a lot of grit and guts to keep talking about it.
I’m always open to collaboration. I have a Notelets on Nurture series, which I share on the occasional Sunday, if you’d like to write something for that. My email is sarah@thesearethedays.co ☺️
Loved reading this. Honoring what we need at the time is so important!
Thanks, Leanna. Glad it resonated with you!
Thank you for this Sarah: your reflections resonate with me deeply as I’ve been doing some radical reprioritising myself, and wrapping my head around my capacity and energy right now. Have a good week ✨
You are skilled at managing your capacity and energy, Astrid, so I know you’ll find a flow that suits you. It feels like a time for deep recalibration. So many of us are feeling it 💫
Thank you Sarah for your kind words! What I personally find so interesting (and annoying at times 😅) is that even though I am skilled at this, something will come up, something will shift or change and I'll need to recalibrate. All part of the game I guess!
Well I’ve been deliberating over my brand colours and styling, then realised I was procrastinating and needed to shift my attention to other things, so this branding expert needs to take her own advice at times. Continually recalibrating 😅
It’s so powerful to truly honour our own unique rhythms… and I think it’s so important to keep coming back to ‘check in’ with ourselves and see if we are running our business as we think we ‘should’ or as something that truly reflects our own individual energy and capacity in our life season. Having a second baby has radically altered my own capacity… so I resonate a lot and love your invitations to consider. This was a beautiful piece thank you Sarah. Imagine if we all ran our businesses like this… I think things would look very different. Xxx
The world would be a far more compassionate place, wouldn’t it ☺️
I hadn’t quite appreciated just how different life would be with two, and the experience with Lowen is so, so different. In my naivety, I had expected a similar return to work, but the nursery settling in period may be a long one. I’ll be happy as long as we all get to a place where we’re comfortable though 💛
This sounds so like my own experience and it’s not spoken about enough. Perhaps this is a topic for our podcast conversation?? Xx
Yes! I'd be delighted to talk about that. It really does feel like a silent thing we're experiencing, but it's massively impacting our lives and my work. Maybe drop me an email with some May dates? Mondays and Fridays are usually best for me. I'd say Tuesday and Thursdays but I've no idea what those will look like or if Lowen will be settled by then 🥹
I will do… annoyingly I only have childcare on Tuesdays and Thursdays… but will see if there is something we can work out xx
Sure we can make a Tuesday or Wednesday work in late May!
So glad to read you’re slowly feeling better as the weather gets warmer and the outer energies return, too! Really so excited for the podcast! And yess, 100% our capacity tells us so much about what we need. Rest up well and take it slow, even “just” early signs of burnout are no joke, been there too. Xx
You’re so right. While spotting those early signs was helpful, I was still in a weary state.
Thanks for your support on the podcast front. So hope you enjoy it 🥰
I’m very much with you on this, and I have to periodically remind myself to slow down, reflect and recharge…on my terms.
Intentionality is so important 😊
I loved this, Sarah. I’m also self-employed, and so is my husband. It’s sometimes tiring to always be chasing that next project, client, paycheck, etc. But I’ve found that when life feels stressful, to do the opposite of what it feels like you have to do (which is go, go, go). Instead, I slow down and do something for myself (whether that’s writing for my own Substack or getting out for a hike). It’s funny how things fall into place so much easily when you aren’t forcing it
Thanks so much for reading, Rachel.
Working for yourself can be a bit ‘feast or famine’ but, I agree, when pushing less we seem to achieve more! I read a piece on here recently about pacing yourself, something like ‘slow down to speed up’ and it totally resonated. I definitely feel more efficient when I look after my needs ☺️
What do you do for a living?
Oh I love that! I’m a freelance copywriter and content creator mostly, but I also do various other digital marketing things ☺️
Oooh Sarah, I love this! Every word resonates with me. I really like how you're going straight to the point in the very first paragraph. No sugarcoating.
Motherhood contributed to this process for me too... How could it not?! In more ways than one, because it was motherhood that made me realise that I'm neurodivergent and that it was the core of my burnout and inability to cope with "more, more, more."
I started having health issues in 2018/2019 due to extreme fatigue. It all started deepening in 2020 and onwards. I'd be lying if I said I found some magic cure - I'll just acknowledge I'm currently deeply into the journey of learning, being kinder to myself and respecting the limits my body and mind need.
So glad this spoke to you, Ramona.
It sounds like we’ve been walking a similar path. My chronic fatigue started in 2018 after I lost the ability to move one night and 2019 was an incredibly challenging year of experimentation to find my way back to me. I found that “being kinder to myself” was the only way too. No diagnosis. Just finding my own way through 💛
And, yes, no skirting around today. I had something of a sticky plaster to rip off in order to get back into the flow of writing and sharing so went all in!