I’m time-greedy.
I need my me time, my work time, my art time, my buffer time, my down time, my exercise time, and my recovery time, which btw is 8.5 hours sleep, every night.
I also need my friends & family time. I love that shit. It’s what recharges me, inspires me, brings me the most joy, and gives my life meaning.
But no matter how good it is, I still have a hard time making plans.
I feel like there’s never enough time to do all the things I want/need to do. It’s even worse when I have upcoming hard deadlines. I often anticipate running out of time from the get-go.
So I protect my time. I rarely book more than one social thing per week.
And even at that, I practically have to do mental gymnastics to trick myself into reaching out to set those once-a-week plans, or to responding and committing to someone else’s invitation.
It’s not that I dread doing the thing. Most of the time, I can’t wait to do the thing! I just get a little panicky at the thought of fleeting time. “Slipping through my fingers like a fist full of sand.” (apt lyric from a Sam Roberts song)
Sometimes it causes me to be slow in answering social messages, or leads me to quietly retreat into my private life for short spells.
But when I do make plans, I try my best to make it count by being fully present. (So yeah, no phone chilling.) I might see people less often, but I get a lot out of the time that we do spend together.
That’s just mostly where I’m at now. I feel like I go through phases with this stuff. Sometimes I go *real* wild and have consecutive weeks with two or more social things. But that quickly becomes exhausting and unsustainable.
It’s cheesy to say, but I try to listen to my mind, my body, and my gut for guidance in finding that delicate balance. For the most part, it tends to work out.
I wanna dedicate this post to the people in my life who are understanding of my time boundaries. The folks who show love and keep inviting me to things even when I’ve missed the last two get-togethers. And the people who are fine with waiting an extra week till I have a bit more time to hang. I love y’all.
process &
behind-the-scenes
Busted out my old Sculpey clay to make these worm-esque letters come to life. I forgot how much that stuff sticks to your hands. 🤪
