A new Quest

I realized some things yesterday. Was faced with some changes that I need to make. I need to get back on track. I need to move some things around in my life. Putting the focus back on my health. And also, remembering my goals.

Recently, when I was sick for a week, all of my goals were washed away by the necessity to just feel better. I stopped exercising. I wasn't eating properly or regularly. I stopped writing my novel (blaming that on getting writer's block, which I'm working through).

My life is FULL. My metaphorical plate is overflowing. It's time to put things right again. I have healthy lunches for the week at work, I have a renewed exercise schedule. I will be also scheduling writing and journal making.

Tonight I'm going to a meeting... so I have to adjust around that. But I will figure it out. The main thing I have to remember is to take care of myself with a more holistic approach. I can no longer be too busy to deal with emotions. Before, I think I was running from Dad's death. I kept myself amazingly busy for over 6 months time. And I succeeded in running from it for that long. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The depression swooped down on me and engulfed me. Then... and I'm sure they are related, I got sick. A type of sick that I couldn't ignore. A fever for a week. Complete mind and body fatigue.

I need to learn how to deal. How to not run from emotions. How to stay on track with all of my busy-ness without running myself down.

So I'm on a new quest. The quest for my balancing point.

Back to Basics

In a thread I'm in on Etsy, I issued a challenge yesterday. I called it the "back to basics challenge". The above photo is one of the coptic stitch journals I made for the challenge. When I first started bookbinding, I learned the coptic stitch. It was my bread and butter for well over a year.

Then I began making leather bound journals, with stab binding, and I never looked back. There seemed to be a market for them, they took less time, and I found my groove with them. But lately, I've been feeling like I need to return to basics. Like I need to remember what it was about bookbinding that drew me in.

So, I went back to basics and it taught me a lot about myself. Soon, I will go back to basics with Buddhism. To return to the path that I started on in 2002. I am on a quest. A quest to remember why I am now where I am.