Ugh...

Okay, so I haven't posted anything in a long time. I apologize for that. As most of you know, for over two months I was in a big crunch at work which basically limited my free time to eating, sleeping, and an occasional trip to the movies to just escape from my mind for a little while. Consequently, there is very little to report at the moment.

The good news is that the deadline that we were working so hard towards is now past and I am in recovery mode at the moment. What does recovery mode involve? Well, so far it has involved the planning of several trips (Utah two weeks ago, Lake Tahoe this week, and Lake Powell in four weeks), several concerts (Low, Pinback, The Fleet Foxes, James Taylor, Nellie McKay, Joe Purdy, John Butler Trio, David Wilcox, Xavier Rudd, and the Monolith Festival), a new series of books of light reading (the Percy Jackson books which are basically a collision of Harry Potter and Greek mythology) and a trip last weekend to the mountains.

The best part of this recovery process has been the ability and freedom to just think again. I didn't realize how completely my life had shifted into "survival mode" until I was finally able to walk out of my office having completed my part of the deadlined work. It was as if the heavens opened and celestial choirs sang forth in joyous praise. I was quite literally giddy. I suddenly had time to have a life again! Now if i could only remember how to have one...

But seriously, it has been such a relief and in many ways a fairly significant learning experience. As I've gone about the process of rediscovering my life, my vision has seemed to clear and I've continually been awed at just how absolutely absorbed I'd become with my work. Each day had become just a struggle to keep breathing long enough in order to get to the next one. There was no room for self improvement or for leisure activities of any worth. Recreation became about escaping my life, rather than living it more fully.

Ugh...

What an awful existence it was, and I hope to never be put into that situation again. Unfortunately, I'm sure that I probably will; that's just the nature of this profession. However, I hope that I will be able to always remember these last few months so that when faced with a similar set of circumstances, I will be better able to keep my life in balance.

Here's to learning through experience!