Be Gentle with Yourself.

"Here are some things to remember when you are feeling like the world is going to explode: Take such gentle care of yourself, please. Listen to your body and not your brain as much as you can. Make yourself lots of tea and tuck yourself in at night like you are a tiny, fragile baby. Remember that you will not always feel like this and that you are not alone. I am here for you and there is lots of love for you in lots of places."

-Eliza Spalding (on overwhelming anxiety, grad school, and general shittiness)

...This resonated so deeply with me. Two weeks after receiving this bit of advice, I've made leaps and bounds of progress in learning to be gentle with myself and how to listen to what my body needs in the present moment. I'm so grateful to have a friend who has also been through the ringer and always has words of encouragement. Although these words were meant for me, I think they're important for everyone to read. Take what you will from it.  

OVERWHELMED

I haven't blogged in years. And by years, I mean it FEELS like years and is, in fact, an entirely different year since my last post. Hi, 2015. You have come in with a bang and here it is February and I'm still feeling the reverb. It's been a roller coaster of a month, both good and bad. But that's a whole 'notha blog post in itself.

So. I just finished week 4 of the new semester and week 5 is when things start blowing up. Two exams and a presentation. One of those exams is about electricity and alternating/direct signals and how voltage effects resistance effects current, etc etc etc i don't care etc etc. There's SO MUCH cramming to do this weekend and I'm overwhelmed with how little time I have to study. But then I started thinking about it and realized that I don't have time to study because of all the amazing things going on. One of my New Year's resolutions was to put self care at the top of the priority list, and that's exactly what I'm doing. But maybe I'm overdoing it? Nah.

A friend and I are making cookies tonight, there's birthday brunch to be had on Sunday, I wanna spend at least one of these weekend days hiking somewhere big and beautiful, there's the pink wine and trashy tv date that definitely cannot be given up for study time, I bought tickets to not one, but TWO concerts (Brett Dennen and St. Paul & the Broken Bones, two of my favorite artists), and there's a new Jodi Picoult novel in my backpack whispering at me to curl up in a coffee shop with a cappuccino and read until the morning light runs out.

THERE'S SO MUCH TO DO. I'M OVERWHELMED WITH WEEKEND AMBITION. 

So here's my plan: I'm gonna do everything. I'm going to enjoy the birthday weekend and fit study time in when I can. I have faith that what needs to get done will get done because I'm not one to let things go.