Taking Stock
The Pelican State | 2020 © Alicia Kae Miller
Late February 2021 marks one year since receipt of my "empathy gap" epiphany.
As mentioned in previous Perspectives, this calling led to a series of changes in my life, including jettisoning from 26-years in corporate America and the creation and launch of Empathy Uprise, a novel social movement galvanizing humanity toward greater compassion and less hate.
Like you, over the last year, I have learned to live with a lot less. This less has actually become more given the reblossoming of dormant creativity and shock-testing of my ability to build a structure from chaos.
After nearly a year of push-pull, I have finally found what I have been in search of: a slow but steady rhythm to my work and personal life.
Work All Day, Dance All Night
An entrepreneurial newbie, I found that I was all too often blurring the line between the two up until recently.
This recognition brings me to the truth that while I do not miss the rigid structure of working for someone else, I do miss the hard line that I intentionally drew between the two worlds that I once inhabited.
Coming up the work ranks in the 90s, my time investment was clear cut = evenings and weekends were AKM-time. As you undoubtedly know, all of this changed with the availability of pocket-size cell phones, 13-inch laptops, and WiFi. Voila! As work bled into personal time, our evenings and weekends became tethered to "the Google machine."
Since I have never been a big fan of attempting to be all things to everyone else, I eventually rejected the Lemming line by saying no to less than urgent requests.
I Got You
Eventually, I turned all work gadgets off during me-time, which helped to get my groove back since the responsibility of getting my groove back lay squarely on me.
The feeling of taking your life back is extraordinary. When we stop worrying about what other people think (being available 24/7), liberation ensues.
We will make rookie mistakes along the highway of life, but once you hit your sweet spot in anything, the rest become easy.
Onward
The vital part of making your way to Easy Street is building in downtime that lessens the nasty haze between want and must-have. I find that when I get lost between the two, my creative time produces less than meaningful content for you and me.
As the frenetic energy of the past regains speed and we return to our new normal, let us not forget what matters most in our run-up to the finish line = one another and invaluable me-time.
Until we meet again, take time to smell the flowers' fragrance in the garden of your life. ❤️
Yours in Solidarity, -akm
February 10, 2021