Still Digesting
Still Digesting
Are you honouring your pace peacefully and patiently?
Things take time. Or so I always get told when my patience is put to the test. Although I’ve spoke of it in the past, something that has been made clearer as of recent is the importance of honouring our pace with patience.
I see pace like our digestive system (queue a really clumsy metaphor). Some people can consume a lot of foods of different qualities and quantities and be completely unaffected by the variety. It just travels seamlessly through their digestive track with zero complications. Others may only be able to digest certain foods in smaller amounts yet for some reason take longer to digest.
Now imagine that food is life events. Whilst some people can process prolonged periods of stress, discomfort, conflict etc relatively quickly and at ease, others may experience discomfort and ailments along the way. Although both groups might consume the exact same events, our tolerance, abilities and threshold to digest them differ.
Your pace is like your intestine. It’s a complex, jumbled journey. They all are. Although made to preform the same function, each perform at a different speed. This is why we cannot measure an individual’s emotional threshold against another. To apply time pressure on our emotional response is another pointless comparison that we place upon ourselves. “Why am I still hurt from…XYZ… and they feel fine already?”, “Why can’t I solve this problem but they already have?”… I’m sure you can think of a thousand more examples.
For a little context I’m going to share some undigested life events (that as always link back to creative pursuits), hopefully reassuring those held back by timeline comparisons.
Still digesting…
Imposter Syndrome : One brought on by being a podcast guest and the other, the “cover star” (cringes at self) of an online magazine/blog. One was 3 months ago and the other 3 weeks ago… yes, I’m still processing both.
Challenging clients : I’ve had my fair share recently. I have a lot of patience for people (some say too much) but how I manage patience towards myself during challenges is not always as graceful as I’d like to admit. Ergo, I’m taking a little longer to navigate prolonged periods of self criticism.
Creative and emotional burnout : pffft… we might need a whole other newsletter on this topic.
You’re still absorbing nutrients
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m naturally wired to overthink scenarios for longer than some (I suppose this newsletter wouldn’t exist if I didn’t). When I feel discomfort it’s easy to assume that a negative reaction is taking place. When in actuality, there are good nutrients being absorbed. Whilst I may take a little longer to process it, my body and mind are making the most out of it…
Podcast:
Nutrients - Connection
I felt extreme levels of anxiety, discomfort and imposter syndrome before, during and after… however, I’ve gained a whole new relationship because of it. I’ve learnt more about myself as well as Darren and his creative practice. It’s strange to think how close I was to rejecting this opportunity. Listening to my head would’ve robbed me from the nutrients that my gut needed. I suppose our intestines are also a metaphor for life. A similar path with a series of different twists and turns along the way… have I just placed my own metaphor into another metaphor?
*You can find all episodes here*
Each episode is filled with insight, perspective and transparency behind creatives and small businesses. Darren is such a welcoming and intuitive host who really puts so much love and attention to detail, bringing a great conversation to the table for both the guest and the listener. Forever grateful to have been the guinea pig to a wholesome podcast.
July cover issue
Nutrients - Perspective and respect
I wrote a huge caption on this which you can read here. This was a really difficult yet simultaneously beautiful day. It challenged me on so many levels - mostly letting go of control, not an easy task as it relates to my appearance and creative practice. The growth that came out of doing something so far out my comforts and having a camera in my face all day goes as follows - how we make people feel is what we’re remembered for. The laugh, the connection. The ability to make people feel welcomed and warmed, embraced and elated means so much more than a picture of “perfection”… which, despite instagram making us believe, we know isn’t a thing yet get so caught up in.
Challenging clients
Nutrients - Resilience and reasoning
To juggle multiple projects on the go is already a task in itself. Add a dash of vagueness, a sprinkling of ambiguity, a heap of miscommunication and you have yourself a recipe for butting heads. It’s very easy to take things personally or to feel mistreated, but we are not always the priority. In telling myself this it can help release my mind from “I’ve done a bad job” to “They are probably busy, let me move onto something else for the time being”. I’m still working on setting boundaries and respect for my practice, but hey, things take time.
Creative and emotional burnout
Nutrients - Solicitude and mindfulness
This has definitely been the toughest out the lot. Burnout seeped into more than one avenue of my life. When something no longer only impacts ourselves but the people around us, it forces you to take a long hard look at your behaviour. I realise this is a slightly abstract statement… so take your time to digest it because I never realised how important it was until I did.
*Navigating burnout is something I get asked about a lot and plan on diving into in more depth*
Lovely souls, this was a lot. Some of you may need to chew on this a little longer, some will gobble it up no problem… that’s the point. You take as long as you need. To hold onto emotions is one thing, but to sit, process and digest is another. Honour your pace with patience and your mind, body and soul will thank you later.
If you made it this far… you’re the loveliest of lovely souls… so here, have a discount code - LOVELYSOULS for 10% off everything on my shop :)
