A useful break

Hello friends! My apologies for my absence from publishing posts for the past few months. The need for time away from writing crept up on me, and by the time I had thought of expressing this in a post I had already unintentionally begun this short hiatus!

It has been a busy time. One in which I kept trying to do all the things I usually have in my schedule, as well as meeting with family and friends over Christmas, and – for the first time in ten or so years – enjoying searching for Christmas presents for family. In the past, the activity of finding useful things as Christmas presents, valued things which people did not already have, caused more stress than was healthy. Thus, I made the decision to take a break from giving gifts at Christmas. I was also upfront about saying I expected no presents myself, as gift giving is often a reciprocal thing.

This vastly reduced the stress I felt during the holiday season, and freed me up to be present. To enjoy the shared meals and hospitality. To play boardgames, wear silly Christmas hats, tell stories, and meet with a few more people than I might otherwise have had the energy for. It was a great decision for me at the time. During this period, family and friends were generous and gave gifts of things they thought would be useful for me, which I will always be thankful for. ❤️

In a way, this break from writing and publishing blog posts has served a similar purpose. To meet my self-directed goal of publishing two blog posts a week I was booking in more time and mental energy than I had available. Over time I was becoming more tired, and looking to the writing a more and more like it was a chore. As something that usually gives me energy and brings my imagination to life, this was disheartening.

So it turns out this break, though initially unintentional, happened at a perfect time and was very necessary.

Thank you to you all, dear friends and readers, for returning after this break from writing I have taken. To read more of my musings and wonderings, which hopefully provide something of value for you to take forward in your own life.

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When was the last time you took a good length, deep, and restful, break?

Is it time for you to take a break from work, sport, reading, blogging? <Insert whichever useful but sometimes energy intensive activities you do here.>

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I am feeling rested and ready to write again: blogs, stories, music. Next up here on my blog will be a three blog series, “The Unknown: the good, the bad, and the unknown.”

Peace, and prayers for many blessings this year for you and your family.

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