As you may recall, I've been in a major funk lately. I was depressed and uninspired for a couple months, totally distracted from work with no real interest to get back into the swing of things, honestly. So, after I wrote the post here about how I've been feeling (thanks for all your wonderful, encouraging words by the way!) it opened up the path for me to really start thinking about what was causing my funkiness. And I realized that it hasn't been anything I'm doing that's the problem, really. It's what I haven't been doing.
I haven't been taking pictures like I used to, which is one of my favorite things to do. I haven't been getting out of the house hardly at all- and I mean, at all! I haven't been feeling creatively engaged or artistic. I haven't been staying motivated. I haven't been exercising or taking care of myself. And most importantly, I haven't been having any fun!
In the 4-Hour-Workweek, author Tim Ferris talks about how we should be chasing excitement in our lives and careers. He says when someone talks about "following their passion" or "doing what they love", that's just another way to say they're doing what excites them. And I'd have to agree.
So that got me to thinking about what excites me? What do I really want to do with my days? I decided to open up a new little shop (coming soon, very soon!), just for fun and so far, in getting everything prepared, it's been just what the doctor ordered to lift my spirits! I'm also taking Susannah's Unravelling class right now and it's opening up some creative paths for me and allowing me to take time for myself, which is something I need to do much more often.
I'm feeling encouraged and excited with thoughts of something new. But, as we all know, with new endeavors comes the inevitable lack of time to be able to do everything. Which means I need to make some changes, let go of some things and re-define my priorities.
In my most unsure moments, I'm reminded by my boyfriend how lucky I am to be young and have this awesome opportunity to try out different things. To be in a position where I can pursue all my different interests to see what really suits me best is quite a gift, and I feel I should take advantage of it.
So, I'm trying something new. I desperately need to get out from behind the laptop more often and add more fun to my days. And no matter how scary it seems and even though I'm really worried about disappointing all of you...I'm afraid I need to put BIZtips on a bit of a hiatus.
I have a couple more guest posts from the ever-so-knowledgeable Meredith that I'll post tomorrow and Thursday, and then on Friday I'll put together a reference post that points to some favorite articles so you can navigate through all that BIZtips has to offer more easily.
In January, I plan on re-assessing and either making this blog active again with the help of frequent guest contributors (if ya'll would like to help??) or just keeping it as a resource for everyone. We'll see what seems most feasible at that time.
I think it's time now for me to take my own advice and practice what I preach here, so to speak. I want to create a career that I'm truly in love with and even though I'm still feeling around and am not entirely sure what that means for me yet, I do know that I deserve to give myself the time and space I need to figure it out.
So this will be the last week of BIZtips for a bit until I check back in in January. In the meantime, I'll be over at Modish daily, so join me there!
I thank you all for reading, commenting, emailing, participating, encouraging and sharing as much as you have here! It's amazing, really. You readers are the awesomest of the awesomest people I've ever "met" online. Good luck with everything and I hope we can still find happiness in our creative careers together!
With love,
Jena
