Ooooooh I can’t wait for the winter to be over. Anyone living in a four-season country dealing with fibro understands what I’m talking about! When I was a kid I used to be very sporty and I was actually one of the top gymnastics of the country once. Don’t be too impressed: We’re talking age ten. But when I was hitting puberty the pain in my joins kept getting worse. With a wonderful climax when I was 15: summertime and I was stuck at home with my knees tapes in, barely able to move.
I was under quite some stress as a kid. Home-life was not really stress-free (understatement) so my body has a very different default mode when it comes to stress. leaving home and having my own place came with so much peace. I felt safe for the first time in my life. So pain was pushed to the background and just popped up to slap me in the face whenever I forced my body to do too much: go to a festival for instance. But most of the daily stress was gone, so I was doing much better.
As some of you might know, if you grow up in an abusive household and the roles are reversed you kinda grow up with an imbalance here and there. I was always the first to help out when someone needed an extra hand. I would pay for my friends if they didn’t have the cash (i didn’t either, but that was not important).
Around 11 years ago I stated working for a design agency. I worked in the graphic design industry for a couple of years already before I started my last 9 to 5 job. It was a stressful work environment. The crisis had hit the industry haaaaard and there was too much work for the three peeps we were. Then my boss had to step back and reevaluate things with her burn out. My colleagues and I felt responsible to keep things going. I remember working a late nighter, at home, with a fever. My health was clearly not as important to me as my boss’ health. So yeah. Fibro was knocking on the door to prevent me from going further with this, for me, destructive mindset.
I started my business thinking, things can never get worse than where I came from. I was confident I had enough skills to make my own business successful and leave those demanding stressful work situations behind. Now 9 years in I have to say my work/life balance has been going very well but the past year has been more stressful than usual. The workload has been mad during these winter months and I have been struggling with my back, hips and neck. Headaches from screen time.
Usually I take an annual winter break. A month away to recharge in the sun. Explore and get inspired. This year I had to skip my break for various reasons. Not a good idea. Now I am stuck in February, super overwhelmed by the past few months. And super low on energy. I have no idea what I’ve been doing. My brain is one big fuzzy cloud. So it’s time to take some weeks off. Take care of myself. Be kind to my body. And focus on creating new designs. So if you’re not getting your message replied to, please be patient. My assistant is there to answer your emails, but it might take a little longer than you’re used to. Sorry! Life’s so much easier with daily sunshine and play-dates on the beach and in the park. Can’t wait for summer to come!
