Day 5

I am very grateful for breaks, vacations, holidays, what ever you want to call them I am thankful that we are able to take pauses in our everyday routines to do what ever it is we all do while on break! I really think these breaks are very important, I wish our culture could see how important they and we were offered the same vacations as they are in Europe, but some break is definitely better than no break. As of today I have been on break for just over three weeks, and they have been filled with family events and gatherings, shopping and socializing, and plenty of free time, all the while speeding by faster than I can keep track of. Finally, today I started getting ready to head into student teaching and I felt so motivated, excited and ready to get going that the enthusiasm passed over into the mounting piles of crap I have been accumulating in my studio and all over my desk. About time I started addressing this mess! Do you ever feel like when there is nothing you have to do, you do absolutely nothing? You become board out of your mind and have watched way to many movies on TV. But, when you finally start filling the calendar you end up doing all the other things you have been putting off as long as possible? I do. That's what I do.

I think these breaks are crucial for our mind, body, and spirit; unfortunately they keep getting shorter and shorter as we are pressured to do more work, be more productive, take on more obligations, and do more for everyone but ourselves. When was the last time you truly took a day for no one but yourself? I couldn't imagine never having any breaks, I don't want to know what kind of person I would become. To me I need these breaks to help me clear my mind, refocus my thoughts and intentions, reenergize, reorganize, and remotivate as I continue on. I think that all of the world goes in cycles, ups and downs, and you need the downs to enjoy the ups, you need the break to prepare for the chaos. I need to sit on the couch and watch Jennifer Aniston movies all day feeling board out of mind in order to get remotivated and excited and once that momentum of doing things starts it becomes contagious and Im filled with energy and things start to happen! I think we all need to be sure that at some point in out schedules we are all taking some time off for ourselves, some time to recover and do a little internal mind check/decompression so we can go back out there and rock the world the best we know how! Whether it is one hour or one year it will matter. I need to remind myself that it is important to enjoy breaks, don't feel guilty about doing nothing, watch lame reruns all day feeling board out of your mind (yet entertained simultaneously), and then get excited to do something!!