Spring’s Life Lessons -Part 2
Summer Dreams (Riviera Maya)
🌴Happy June! 🌴 There’s only a few more weeks left of spring and then we arrive at the summer solstice. As I mentioned in the last post, I had two personal realizations this spring. The first I shared last time and the second one I wanted to share now.
The second Aha! moment for me this spring is that you can enjoy hobbies and spend time doing things that don't make money. Ok, I know that seems obvious, but I was raised in a belief system where making money and working were priorities. Even my father's hobby of buying and selling antiques brought in an income. Following that workaholic mentality ended up not only being unsustainable for me, but negatively impacted my physical and mental health. It has taken a lot of work to move away from that, but one place I still struggled with was spending time doing things I love that have no relationship to my work. Up until a few months ago, I rarely read anything that wasn't related to my job or self improvement. Additionally, most of my writing was entirely focused around my profession. I found myself being too serious, often stressed and feeling like something was missing from my life.
I remember when I was in college, my accounting professor (yes, I thought I was going to major in accounting but hated all the classes) noticed my struggle in his classes and asked me which subject brought me joy? I immediately said English. He looked at me and said, go and change your major to English and I will make sure you pass this class. Needless to say, my father was not happy with this, but that's another story for another time. Thanks to this professor's wisdom, I majored in English loving all my classes and everything about the subject. I especially liked reading fiction and writing. After graduation, I immediately entered the corporate world and left most of that behind. Even after leaving corporate life, I got close to them again by teaching middle school English, but still all the reading and writing were related to my work. Up until a few months ago, I still rarely read fiction or wrote. And although life was good, there still felt like something was missing.
Then last year, I was offered the opportunity to write for a magazine. I took it and it unleashed my love for writing again. Then my step daughter recommended a fiction series and that begin my return to reading for fun. For the last few months I have made some changes. I now regularly read fiction and have read 54 books since January! I am a regular contributor to the magazine and am now writing a blog. Additionally, I love working and training my toy poodle as well as cooking and baking for my family and friends - all of which are separate from my work.
Now, just like my step daughter who works at the quilt shop not because she needs the money but because quilting brings her joy, I now have several things separate from my work that have enhanced my daily life. My husband notices how allowing space and time for the things I love have made me much happier and calmer, and I know he is right. When you indulge your passions, you leave room for joy, creativity and play. I now feel complete and more aligned with my authenticity. Who doesn’t need more of that in their lives? What things do you enjoy just for the sake of doing them? Are you allowing time and space for them?