Photo via Jess Watters, Unsplash

You’ve probably noticed that i’ve been quiet here. 

2018 has been non-stop. I’ve been doing a lot of growing this year, personally and professionally. I started a new job, I turned 27 and I finally went on vacation after 19 months. I never wanted to stop blogging, but the days were tiring and I no longer felt motivated to do the things I once loved. 

That said, here’s where i’ve been and what i’ve been up to. 

I started a new job in June. Leaving my old job was a leap of faith; I loved the company and the people I worked with, but I had been feeling burnt out and lost. I wanted to grow but after my review I saw that there was no more opportunities for me to grow. I started applying for jobs outside of the company with the thought that I didn’t have enough experience to go anywhere else, but someone saw something in me and offered me a job and that felt damn good! 

I’m coming up on five months at my new job as a social media coordinator and it’s been a roller coaster ride of emotions. Just like any new job, I started off by putting unnecessary pressure on myself because I wanted people to like me and the work that I put out. That pressure turned into stress — the kind that hurts your entire body and steals your sleep and every ounce of motivation. Well that stress caused me to faint in a bathroom stall at work. It was super scary at the time; Mostly because all I remember is getting in the stall, feeling cold and dizzy and thinking, I think I’m going to faint, and then waking up confused. 

Now that I look back at it, I showed all of the classic signs of extreme stress but I did nothing to be kind to myself. Instead I pushed myself harder because I felt like I didn’t deserve to be stressed. I believe that fainting was God’s way of telling me to take a step back and reevaluate myself. 

Since then i’ve done some blood work with my doctor to make sure everything is okay (it is!), I’ve been seeing a therapist, I’ve gone on vacation and i’ve been working on setting boundaries both personally and professionally. I also started doing yoga in the morning followed by journaling. While all of these good habits have been good for me, the hardest part is not beating myself up with negative self talk if I can’t do one or the other. Even though today’s society is all about taking care of yourself, you can’t believe how hard it is to make it a priority.

Up until now, self care has come in waves. Sometimes I’m dedicated to building myself up and other times i’m passionate about building others up. In my current role as a social media coordinator, it’s going to be important for me to make self care a priority. 

I wish I had more of an update for you but my life has literally been go-go-go since starting this new job. I wanted to share this life update not because I owe an explanation to you, but because i’m hoping I can make a connection with someone by sharing my story. If you’ve been feeling stressed in any area of your life, just know that you’re not alone. It’s possible to rebalance your life so that you can go back to doing the things that make you happy.