LIVING WELL: STEPPING BACK

During the past couple of months I've really noticed a lack of inspiration and motivation in myself. I can pin it back to when I first started experiencing my first trimester symptoms in late May/early June. I had a really difficult time with myself coming to peace that my body needed a break, rest, and that it was OK if I wasn't productive throughout the entire day. During my worst week at the very beginning of July, Georgia had rain every day. I was on vacation from work...but spent 80% of that in bed, feeling bleh, eating what I could, and watching a marathon of shows. I wanted so much to at least have the energy to do some serious blogging or creative brainstorming, but I was drained and my brain was not having it!

Fast forward to my second trimester. After slowly drudging my way through a spirit of de-motivation and complete lack of creativity, I started feeling my energy come back slowly. I thought my motivation and creativity would also automatically come back in a giant wave of inspiration so I could get back to my day to day productiveness and hard work. Well, life happens...and through a series of situations, major changes, and hormones...my levels of inspiration and go-get-it spirit weren't quite what I was expecting. After I gave myself some mercy and realized, I'm freaking growing a human and going through lots and lots of life right now, I also realized something really important for any "creative" person or anyone who feels just drained or demotivated. Take a step back!

Photo found here. 

Instead of trying to dive back into everything I was doing, I realized I needed (and still need!) some time to step back, re-group, find new inspiration and come back to the things in my life refreshed with a renewed mind. For example, blogging has been one of those pieces for me. I LOVE this space. I love my readers and I love the freedom I have to be creative and share my heart with like-minded people. This community amazes me everyday and I truly want to put forth a wholehearted effort into everything I do for my blog. I want to challenge myself to grow, improve, think of new ideas, and produce great content. Going through a couple months of bleh made me sad that I wasn't putting as much effort here as I would have liked. This idea can also be applied to several other areas in my life. I realized I not only needed to give myself mercy (noted above) but I needed a creative break. For me, one of the ways I find inspiration is by unplugging, opening up my journal, and brainstorming. I run across so many ideas and find so much joy in this process that I usually leave feeling a new sense of motivation. Going to conferences and learning from other awesome and super talented people also contributes to my creative fire. Making time for these things in your life on a constant basis is so important. While I'm still in the process of "re-grouping" in a lot of areas of my life, thinking about the new challenges ahead with being a mama and packing up our condo so we can move into our first home, I realize life is moving around me and I need to prioritize the big things. But I SO look forward to some one-on-one time with my journal to continue firing my creativity and inspiration throughout this process. It's OK to step back and take on other tasks, it's OK to feel unmotivated sometimes, it's OK to let your mind and creative spirit take a vacation. Just remember to ask it out to coffee when you're ready and get to know each other again. ;)

A couple tips for stepping back:

1// Realize - Don't wait until you're completely overwhelmed before you make the call. Do the best you can to anticipate life and when you might need to step back from certain areas of your life to make time for important things.

2// Mercy - Again, whether you are feeling unmotivated, have lots of life happening or feel your creative juices being run dry, give yourself mercy. Just make sure to pick yourself back up after giving yourself the "step back" time you need to keep going. No need to beat yourself up about it. ;)

3// What's Your Thing? - We all have something that really puts us in a place of inspiration. When you're ready to get back to blogging, painting, crafting, business, decorating, cooking, photography....or whatever it is...take some serious time to refresh and re-motivate yourself. Have a date with yourself to your favorite coffee shop, go to your favorite park, take a mini road-trip retreat...wipe the slate clean and start fresh with new ideas and thoughts.

Being able to say "no", make the call, and step back from things in life can be hard, but you've got to take care of yourself and your priorities. Life is too short to turn into a major stress-ball just because you can't get everything done you want in a day or have no motivation for it. It's OK. :) I'm looking forward to taking a few steps back from things in my life to focus, get excited, and serve in other areas for a little while.

Are there things in your life you need to step back from and take a creative break from? What do you plan to do to re-inspire yourself when you're ready to get back in the game? Please share your thoughts below!