I’m taking a mini-sabbatical of sorts.
I am so happy just thinking about it. This August: four weeks of baby bonding, summer splashing, coffee and play dates with my favorite mom friends. Four weeks of doing something creative during nap time, getting just a little bit more organized, and lounging on the couch. Four weeks of not rushing so much, therapeutic grocery store adventures, and playing with my babes.
These four weeks I will not be the bag lady. The one toting a laptop, 2 lb. day planner, notebooks and a pumping bag and a lunch bag and a gym tote and, twice a week: a nap mat, a preschool basket, and a toddler lunch box. I will get to be less director, more snuggler. Less hustler, more volunteer. Less consumer, more creative. Less on-the-way-out-the-door listener, more present: wife, mother, daughter, friend.
Carrying my life on my shoulders, not two, not three, but five days a week has started to feel over the top. [Though to put it in perspective: women all around the world do hard things. Things that are actually hard like deciding how best to protect their children in conflicts and crises, not first-world-problems hard.] I just need a little role calibration.
I’ve set some ambitious personal and professional goals for myself, but this month, I’m shooting for less work, more: re-learning discipline, practicing intentionality, exploring creative avenues, and looking after my family’s health and well-being.
Enter Whole30.
I’ve found it remarkably easy to fall into being lazy and unfocused while chalking it up to being a sleep-deprived mom of two with a full-time job and a generally full (in all the best ways) life. In the rush, I’ve drum up the bad habit of mindlessly consuming treats in all their forms: Starbucks double shots with cream too many afternoons, unnecessary Amazon purchases, cocktails with every dinner. I’ve been excessive.
So: simplification.
I have a hunch that adding discipline to our diet will bring us back to the basics with other parts of our lives, too. And there’s no better time for that than now. Reset.