Thank you for this. This is absolutely me. Case in point: with my kids back at school, my plan for September is to finish editing my novel and start querying agents. As well as my freelance writing work, helping my kids with spellings and play dates, and all the things I do in my role as the pastor's wife. So of course I decided to publicly announce that in September I'm going to read all six of Jane Austen's finished novels and write insightful posts on them and witty comments in the subscriber chat.
Most of this I don't HAVE to do. But I WANT to. I've got such a huge desire to get it all done. I've made myself a list of how many Austen pages I need to read each day. But just last night I thought... I don't have to. I can get behind on Pride and Prejudice and nobody will care. Nobody else doing the challenge with me is on their second book yet, and obviously that's fine. But I don't feel it's fine for me. I'm different. I must meet deadlines, even self-imposed ones. But that's not true! I'm not different. I'm as sinful and broken as the next person. I can only do one thing at a time. Jesus didn't die for me so I can come up with more personal rules than the Phariseess.
All this to say, thank you for this reminder. I see you. I am you. Let's do what we can and slow down to enjoy things! (Sorry if my mention of British literature was triggering for you)
Thank you so so much for this insightful comment. I actually LOVE Jane Austen so no triggers there haha!
And I think about what you said a lot, how Jesus died on the cross for me, and I'm slowly instating rules for myself like a pharisee would. When I think abut that it's such a great call to remember to slow down and just allow myself to enjoy creation and the freedom he died to give me.
Thanks so much for the encouragement and I'm so glad this post helped you to be reminded of all that you said!
Important words. Sometimes we're just trying to impress ourselves. Chances are when you try to impress others they give you about 2 seconds of thought then move on.
The education / extracurricular / sport to college pipeline is brutal too, and most people aren't made for it. I feel for the younger generations.
Yeah, I remember being so stressed in high school and feeling like somehow I wasn't doing enough. I think that hustle is only getting worse unfortunately and it's taken me so long to realize that I just don't have to meet the demands of society to have a fulfilling life.
Yep, and even when we think we overachieve and do amazing things within the guidelines society prescribes us… we get very little appreciation for it.
Oh, since we’re kind of on the topic of how modern institutions are designed to suck the life out of us, you should REALLY read my latest post “Aisha” if you have the time. I’d love to get the thoughts of an MFA.
Thank you for this. This is absolutely me. Case in point: with my kids back at school, my plan for September is to finish editing my novel and start querying agents. As well as my freelance writing work, helping my kids with spellings and play dates, and all the things I do in my role as the pastor's wife. So of course I decided to publicly announce that in September I'm going to read all six of Jane Austen's finished novels and write insightful posts on them and witty comments in the subscriber chat.
Most of this I don't HAVE to do. But I WANT to. I've got such a huge desire to get it all done. I've made myself a list of how many Austen pages I need to read each day. But just last night I thought... I don't have to. I can get behind on Pride and Prejudice and nobody will care. Nobody else doing the challenge with me is on their second book yet, and obviously that's fine. But I don't feel it's fine for me. I'm different. I must meet deadlines, even self-imposed ones. But that's not true! I'm not different. I'm as sinful and broken as the next person. I can only do one thing at a time. Jesus didn't die for me so I can come up with more personal rules than the Phariseess.
All this to say, thank you for this reminder. I see you. I am you. Let's do what we can and slow down to enjoy things! (Sorry if my mention of British literature was triggering for you)
Thank you so so much for this insightful comment. I actually LOVE Jane Austen so no triggers there haha!
And I think about what you said a lot, how Jesus died on the cross for me, and I'm slowly instating rules for myself like a pharisee would. When I think abut that it's such a great call to remember to slow down and just allow myself to enjoy creation and the freedom he died to give me.
Thanks so much for the encouragement and I'm so glad this post helped you to be reminded of all that you said!
I expect we are all Pharisees in one way or another. Keep going!
Important words. Sometimes we're just trying to impress ourselves. Chances are when you try to impress others they give you about 2 seconds of thought then move on.
The education / extracurricular / sport to college pipeline is brutal too, and most people aren't made for it. I feel for the younger generations.
Yeah, I remember being so stressed in high school and feeling like somehow I wasn't doing enough. I think that hustle is only getting worse unfortunately and it's taken me so long to realize that I just don't have to meet the demands of society to have a fulfilling life.
Yep, and even when we think we overachieve and do amazing things within the guidelines society prescribes us… we get very little appreciation for it.
Oh, since we’re kind of on the topic of how modern institutions are designed to suck the life out of us, you should REALLY read my latest post “Aisha” if you have the time. I’d love to get the thoughts of an MFA.
Hi there! I would love to read it! I will add that to my list of readings and let you know what I think when I can!