“Hu…hello?” a small voice echoes into the cyber abyss.
Unbearable seconds pass in the darkest of silence, the kind where there is an endless nothing. Feeling sassy, the voice kicks it up a notch. “Is there anybody OUT THERE…OUT there…out there?”
Well, I freaking hope you guys are out there, because I’M BACK!!!
Two whole months. No blogging. No social media. It’s the modern day equivalent to social suicide, but I promise I’m alive and very, very well.
I’ve gotta say I was feeling some serious pressure with my comeback post. So many of you seemed to think I was doing something on the brink of prolific. Then I realized, in our media driven era, taking a hiatus from the digital presence is sort of prolific.
A lot of you said you couldn’t wait to hear what I would discover while I decompressed. Some of you probably thought I was nuts for taking my writer persona off the grid. Some of you might have some questions like…
BRITT, WERE YOU KINDA LOST?
Totally. The first official day of the hiatus, I came home from my day job and stood in the middle of my kitchen, pouting and absently eating cashews.
BRITT, WERE YOU KINDA LONELY?
Totally. I kept thinking I pissed off everybody in my life, but I couldn’t remember what did it.
BRITT, WERE YOU KINDA LAZY?
Oh, come now! Don’t you know me at all?!
Phew! So yeah, I was a little lost and a little lonely, but I found something previously fleeting in my life. And I’m not gonna tell you what that is until next week’s post when I go into the why and how of taking a media vacay.
Aw, Britt!
I know, I know. I’m a tease.
But today, I simply wanted to poke my head out and say thank you all for standing by me. Your awesome encouragement was very much needed and I missed you all like you wouldn’t believe.
Aw, Britt.
I know, I know. I’m really just a big softy.
So, SERIOUSLY! Is there anybody out there? Give me a shout out down below, so I can “see” your cute faces.
Yep, that pile of Yogi roadkill is me.
It was Sunday night, month seven of ten of my Yoga teacher training adventure. Aphrodite the cat humiliated me further by using my carcass as a doormat.
Philosophical exploration is part of the process of becoming a legitimate Yoga teacher.
A question I’ve been secretly asking myself for several months was asked aloud to the entire group of trainees: “What is the purpose of running around?”
It was dead silent.
Tears welled up in my heavy eyes and I choked down the unattractive sob which tried to escape from the depths of my throat.
Just as I suspected…guilty as charged.
When we run around in circles, we don’t get anywhere. No matter how much determination we muster, no matter how fast we go, we stay in the same unfulfilling place.
Ironically, last week I wrote a post called Stop Farting Around. It was meant to be an inspiring post, encouraging the pursuit of dreams.
However, it revealed something jarring to me.
I’m too busy pursuing, drowning in drunken visions of profound splendor. I try to do it all, and the scary thing is…I can pretty much do it.
Am I at peace? Am I satisfied? I think you know what the answers are here.
I need to prioritize my life for a bit. I allowed myself to choose 3 of the most important things…instead of the usual 764.
As you can see, blogging didn’t make the list. How in the hell could it compete with all that anyway?
Therefore, I’m taking a hiatus. I know it sounds dramatic, but two months isn’t exactly a break.
Blogging is so incredible and I adore you all – my exquisite readers, my resplendent friends, my outstanding supporters. Nonetheless, when enjoyment morphs into stress and creativity evolves into pressure, it’s time to do something about it.
When I first wrote this post, it was quite laughable.
In fact, it was titled a “half-ass” hiatus rather than a bona fide one. I cooked up this whole scheme where I would still figure out a way to post archives and reblog, but then I owned up to the fact that none of that was the real deal.
To take it a step further, I knew something else had to go during the hiatus…social media. Twitter, Facebook, even good ol’ Goodreads.
In order to keep distractions at bay, all blogging related email notifications and all of my handy dandy Iphone apps will be temporarily suspended.
With all this rediscovered free time, who knows what will happen?
Maybe I’ll finish my first draft. Maybe I’ll have some Yoga teaching gigs in the works.
I know one thing…I’ll have more time to cuddle with Mr. H and the cats. And that, more than anything, is a reason to be ridiculously excited.
I get it. From a marketing standpoint, I’m doing this all wrong. I should have scheduled posts ahead of time and I should have lined up guest bloggers – yada, yada, yada.
Hell, I’m even celebrating my one year blogiversary during the hiatus! I should just wait, and do this later…yeah, that’s a cop-out, too.
From a life standpoint I’m doing this all right, trying something completely out of character. I’m slowing down.
And so the two month countdown begins. See, I even have a countdown thingamajig on the sidebar now.
I will still be around this weekend to reply to comments, share status updates on FB and Twitter, and catch up on some blog reading.
As of Monday, April 22nd, Britt’s going dark for two whole months.
I will do my best to respond to any comments made during the hiatus upon my return in June.
For those bloggers I follow religiously, please know that I will still be reading from my email but will not participate with my usual liking and commenting during the hiatus. I’ll be like one of those silky web stalkers we never hear from, but always seem to know what we’re up to. (Mwah, ha, ha!)
I am going to miss everyone here like crazy. Feel free to shoot me an email via the contact form and say hello.
Thank you all for your continued loveliness. I’ll see you soon.
With much, much love. – Britt
There have been a lot of emotions burning today, running wild like a forest fire in a vicious drought.
When tragedies happen, we curl our hands into fists as we feel so hard even though we are helpless. And we often don’t know what to do with ourselves.
It is times like these when we must remember to keep our hearts open. Just love, because it is the most important thing we can ever do. If we keep doing this, we win – even when all seems lost.
Stop the anger. Go with the love.
We love, therefore we are.
Dishes and math. Yes, these are the two things I would gladly excommunicate from my life.
For someone who loves cleaning, the endless task of dishes was, and forever shall remain, an endless pain in the ass.
I know you can sympathize.
You scan the crusty plates and silverware in a loathing manner, sizing them up yet internally pleading: “Why, why are you back in my life again, you uninvited stinkers?”
You give yourself a pep talk, pumping yourself up for the mundane. You finally do the dirty and a little while later – Damn! There’s another foul-scented bastard vying for your attention.
And, math.
I’ve never been a fan of that vindictive subject where a solitary answer – and one answer only – is the right one. If you get super close or even if you make the common mistake, inviting a sense of camaraderie for your bruised psyche, you’re still WRONG.
But, math is useful.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that one before!
I’m kidding. I know it serves a purpose with its haughty digits and conceited logic. I just always preferred words to numbers. They’re so much lovelier.
My dad always used to say two infuriating things to me about procrastination.
1) “With all that energy you used up, you could’ve done it already.”
Let’s just say I had a flair for the dramatic when I was younger. I was a good kid, but I raised hell when I didn’t get my way. And, if you think a little girl bawling and rolling around on the floor in agony works on a single dad…you’re sadly mistaken.
The damn sham didn’t work.
So, then I came back with the classic argument: “But, I don’t wanna.”
And, that brings us to…
2) “Come on, it builds character.”
After saying this, my dad went about his usual business. Then I would scribble math problems so ferociously on that lined notebook paper, I would break the pencil. I would make a bunch of racket in the kitchen, sighing with gusto, but cringing when I almost broke a dish.
Eventually, the temper tantrum would subside. The task was completed, and all the turmoil was quickly forgotten, like a mediocre joke.
When we’re young, we are told to do things. But as we grow up, we’re pretty much on our own. Sure at work there are managers, superiors, and big shots waltzing the ever-seductive deadline dance.
Yet, there is one time when we govern ourselves…our free time.
We have full reign over this precious time. And, what do we do?
We smother it with other obligations while our dreams stew quietly on the back burner. Swift and graceful, time passes us by and we realize all the things we wanted to do haven’t been done at all.
Dad isn’t keeping me in check with his catchy reprimands. At home, the boss isn’t tapping her feisty heel with her manicured hands on her hips.
Procrastination…she’s a sneaky bitch!
I have heard something consistently over the years, and I suppose it is a compliment. “I don’t know how you do it all.”
My big, dark secret is that I don’t ever feel like I’m doing enough. But, the things I manage to squeeze into the day-to-day grind are the result of passion and determination. I guess Dad and his relentless words of wisdom got in a little.
As most of you know I have a full-time day job, I’m working on my Yoga teaching certification, I do this blog thing, and I write books. Oh yeah, I’m blissfully married too. No rugrats though, just a couple of incorrigible felines.
It would be so much simpler for me to give up my dreams, to tuck my aspirations of writing and teaching for a living far, far away.
It’s not that easy for me to sit down at my computer on week nights and weekends to accomplish my writing goals. It’s not math homework, and it sure as hell ain’t dishes, but I could be doing a lot of other things.
I could spend more time with my loving family, watch bad television for the hell of it, sleep a little more, and lose myself in all the books I want.
Maybe even try that foreign concept…relaxing.
Yep, I could just walk away. But, I wouldn’t be building any character, now would I?
So, how do we deal with that clever minx called procrastination?
We have to reason with a thing called time. We are privileged to be here, to live a life surrounded by possibilities.
We have the power to do anything we want. Anything.
Dad was right.
The energy we’re expelling on the wishing can be channeled into the doing.
In other words stop farting around, get your butt in gear, and go do something awesome.
Britt Skrabanek 