Superwoman Sucks - A Lovely Rant

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The indecent pace at which I have been working of late has led me to one conclusion:  Superwoman sucks.

She's a giant liar.  We can't do it all, have it all, serve it all, and smile while we relax around it all.  Yet I uphold this ridiculous ideal that I should smile happily while I work 10 to 12 hours in a day, come home to serve supper to anyone waiting for it in the house, do the laundry, find time for my artwork, mark papers, then go to bed until the next day when more of the same awaits me.

Solution One - continuously use this blog as my personal Complaint Department.
Solution Two - quit my job, become a working-at-home mom and focus on my art
Solution Three - quit whining and merrily go about my life while finding engaging moments I can savor and carry a gratitude attitude

Wish I hadn't thought of Solution Three.  Now I have to do it.  FINE.  I'll do it happily, too.

Ranting ends here.

Teetering

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It's been a month since I posted!  How did that happen?  All I did was blink!  Well, maybe I did a little more than that....  Let's see...  Over the past 3 months... produced 52 paintings... had my first showing... started back to school... aha!  School - the Time Bandit.

When I was small, we lived in Naramata.  My parents were renting a vicarage, complete with a huge backyard where inviting leaf piles were demolished by yours truly in the fall.  I went to Kindergarten down the street, and of course there was a playground there.  The inviting wooden teeter-totter beckoned me continuously, and one day I spent more time on it than perhaps I ought.  When I finally returned to the house, my mother had the questionable pleasure of removing at least a dozen splinters from my hiney.  Yay for modern, splinter-free playgrounds!

Since the last few days of august, when I started back to school, I have felt exactly like my 5-year-old self on that teeter-totter; completely off-balance.  It's taken me a month to get the proverbial splinters out of my own behind well enough to sit and paint or blog or do anything other than mourn the loss of free time that was the gift of summer.  Silly girl!  I have discovered that it's better to stand in the middle of the see saw than sit on one end - especially when you play alone. 

Thank goodness I have the right shoes on for balancing - good grips and support.  Those lovely grips come from my quiet time in the morning.  I have committed to getting up between 5:30 and 6 daily to spend some time in prayer before beginning the day.  It centers me, reminds me what's important, gives me time to dedicate myself to my most important relationship, and helps me "get a grip".  The support in my shoes comes (of course!) from my family and dear, close friends.  Daily my husband and daughter and I spend evenings catching up and encouraging one another - what a great way to end the day. 

I'm still learning about balance.  For a while this month, I surely felt as though I were falling off one end.  I like the middle better.