Calling In Sick

In perfect timing, I overheard a conversation in a local cafe before my brief sabbatical last week. The cafe is the only one in my neighborhood in which the work crowd doesn’t overflow overwhelmingly so. It is quaint, with beautiful rusted iron chairs and marble tables. The baristas speak in soft tones, that pull you into a rythmatic meditation. Two regulars sat beside me. It’s there that they discussed the tug and pull of freelancing life. It is there that they, with a little bit of joy and distain, expressed the complicated task of actually turning it all off. “You’re working all of the time and tired, or none of the time and still thinking about work and tired.” I wanted to jump in and throw in an AMEN! but I found it more important to let that piece marinate within me. 

As time would have it, I ran sick the next day. I would open my computer and see the flow of emails, the posts in drafts, and the shoots I had to pull together. I would tap away hoping to form a sentence or two. In my failed attempts, I thought about that overheard conversation between those men, and how I don’t want that to ring true forever. I thought about how, if this is going to be sustainable, I better figure it out soon and fast. Why not start off by taking a sick week? And so, I did. 

While my hope for breaks in the beat of this freelancing lifestyle goes beyond sick weeks and days, and touch deeper on self worth, time management, and balance ( if I’m lucky), a sick week was a good way to throw it all in perspective. I hope you all had a good weekend. I’m feeling much better already. 

(Photography Via Design Sponge)