Sometimes you need to go looking for the silver lining – like looking really hard to find it. Recently I found myself in the position of needing to remind myself of that. I was hit by a grumbling migraine which took me about a week to shift, at the same time my beloved MacBook died.
While I love working with physical media in my art whenever I can, it’s still amazing how much of my life and business is on my computer. Email contact with my suppliers and stockists, invoices, files for printers, access to the website and webshop, the list is scarily long and seems to just keep growing. So there I was with a pounding head going between a mild headache to my head trying to implode and explode simultaneously with a migraine. And even when the painkillers were actually working I couldn’t do much because of my lack of computer. I needed to look really hard for that silver lining.
Step Back and Take a Break
So did I ever find that silver lining? What was it? Honestly, I really needed a break. I needed reminding to take time for myself away from the business. To step back and allow myself to simply rest for a while. We live in a society that promotes ‘hustle’ culture, working as hard as you can and if you don’t you’re lazy. This can become an issue though when you work for yourself and love your job. There can be a tendency to just keep working, and working, and working, reinforced by all the ‘experts’ out there promoting ‘the hustle’.
Now don’t get me wrong if you want to be successful you’re gonna need to work hard. But you also need to take care of yourself. My friend Karen is fond of saying you need to protect the asset, and you’re the asset. (Karen is an amazing creature artist based in Canada. Check out her website KarenSim.net and let me know which creature is your favourite.)
I wasn’t taking care of the asset, myself. That combination of migraine and a broken computer forced me to step away from things for a few days. It felt like my body and the universe conspired to remind me. So I was on enforced rest for a few days. It would have been nice to spend the time going on walks with Pebbles but unfortunately, that wasn’t to be either. I simply couldn’t cope with the bright light. Pebbles, however, said she understood and was happy to flop and snore on her bed indoors, content with fusses and cuddles in between naps. When I needed to go looking for the silver lining I was reminded that I need to take care of myself.
Take care of yourselves…
Mara