MIA (Day 171, Year 3)

If you are a dedicated Yoke-ster (I just made this term up! I love it! Someone make shirts!) you may have noticed that I've skipped some Yoke days here and there. The first time I skipped two days was when I was in the throes of an argument with my husband (we are great; but marriage is hard sometimes) and also preparing to send my daughter off to rowing nationals in Florida. I was overwhelmed and I just couldn't do it. 

I thought I'd feel guilty or like a failure; but instead I felt refreshed and empowered. I kept skipping. I just skipped three days over this past weekend. These mental health MIA writing days have lessened my stress, just a little bit, and freed up my writing muscles for all the graduate school work due each week. 

There is a lot of work for school and all of it is writing (which makes sense since it is a writing program). 

Anyway, I decided going forward that I have permission to write nearly everyday and that is good enough. 

I think there is a bigger life lesson in my new found "breaks" from daily writing. While it is important to commit and hold up your end of the baragin and be true to yourself and do what you say you will do and all that other stuff, it is also important to never feel ensalved to any of your responsibilities. It's easy to confuse the urgent deadlines with important things. 

And trust me: just because you feel like something is breathing down your back does not mean that their demand is important. Sometimes the important things seem less-urgent, like when your son needs to talk to you about his blister or your teenage daughter is finally in a good enough mood to laugh with you without glaring. Sometimes the important things are writing in this blog or instead watching Succession. 

Which brings up the question: how do you know what's important and what's merely urgent (like that email message asking for things you cannot put into words)? 

When I pause and really think about it, I can always see what's important. That pause and moment of discernment, allows me to put the non-important urgent aside and get on with the important. 

So, friends, I'll still be here, almost everyday. The other days I'll be somewhere important, like eating the best muffin ever poolside at a cheesy motel in Ocean City or laughing with my husband as we recap our days playing the parent version of zone defense. 


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