A Break from Reality
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July 2, 2020
Who else feels like our reality right now…totally sucks?! 2020 has been such a hard year and if I’m being completely honest, I’m not handling it well. I did ok with the quarantine at first, but now that I’m between homes (closing on July 24! Woohoo!), I have no safe haven. Then add to that the huge civil rights movement and extremely divisive political climate and it’s just too much to handle on a daily basis. And without traveling, I feel completely lost.
I think it’s pretty clear that I’m a very vocal advocate of the Black Lives Matter movement. It weighs very heavily on me. I’ll admit that I’ve cried more in the past month than I have in years. But a big part of advocacy is actually self-care and taking breaks. You can’t be an advocate when you’re overly exhausted and not taking care of yourself. I came to this realization after reading a statistic that 40% of those who experience burnout from a cause, do not return to the cause after burning out. Taking breaks and avoiding that feeling of burnout is actually better in the long run. I’ve always felt this was the case for work, so why not advocacy? After all, advocating is hard work, right?
That’s why I was able to pull myself away and spend some quality time with my family over the weekend. In fact, it was actually a significant date to us. We were celebrating the life of our cousin, who was more like a brother to us all, we lost five short years ago. We shared stories of our memories with him, ate his favorite foods, and enjoyed being together. It was a nice few days and from now on, I think I’ll let myself take breaks whenever I need them.
What are you doing to give yourself a break?
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Photos by Ryan Carpenter.
June 30, 2020 @ 10:20 am
hugssssssssssssss. I know this is such a tough time for you because of your cousin so I’m here for you girl! Glad you got some much needed family time and got to spend time remembering his life.
I totally agree taking a break is a necessity right now. I feel like Im barely hanging on to daily life. Depression is starting to consume me to be honest and I don’t know how to handle it. 2020 was good in a way that I so far eliminated almost 60% of my credit card debt but thats about the only good thing.
July 1, 2020 @ 9:01 am
Thank you so much babe!! You’re the best!! It was so good for us all to be together. Taking a break is completely necessary. I feel the same way! It’s been so hard to stay positive when the world is just so heavy right now. All we can do is keep holding on and acting towards change. Woohoooo on eliminating your debt! That’s amazing!
June 30, 2020 @ 1:54 pm
aww girl, I feel ya! Thank you for being so vocal about BLM, you definitely deserve a break <3
July 1, 2020 @ 8:59 am
Absolutely!! It’s a MUST. But taking a break is so necessary too. BLM is definitely a marathon, not a sprint. I’m in it for the long haul for sure!
July 1, 2020 @ 10:42 am
This looks like exactly the kind of time you needed to just reset. It’s important to still take that time for ourselves right now, in the midst of all the pain and hardships we’re all facing right now. Thank you for that reminder!
July 3, 2020 @ 9:19 am
You’re so right. It’s incredibly important to recharge – now more than ever before! It was the perfect break from reality. We all need it! 🙂
July 1, 2020 @ 11:29 am
Thank you for sharing your story with us babe! ❤️ You are so strong…and being so vulnerable and honest is exactly what we all need to be. Im glad that you guys took the time to celebrate your cousins life…and wow, what a beautiful way to celebrate! The photos are stunning!!!!
I’m too good at locking up my feelings and letting them slowly eat away at me. Your post has reminded me to take self care more seriously in order to keep moving forward. Love you always. Xoxo
July 3, 2020 @ 9:18 am
Yes! I’m the same way!! I usually just try to push through and not let the hard times take me down, but it’s all just been so heavy lately! It felt amazing to step away from it all, let loose, and have some fun. We all need to let ourselves do that every now and then – especially during these hard times! Love you so much!!!
July 8, 2020 @ 12:03 pm
This has been a really hard time for me. I can’t even imagine all the pain POC are going through right now. Really hoping we can make some change in our communities now and in our country in November!
July 13, 2020 @ 11:07 am
I feel the exact same way!!! It’s been so emotionally trying; I can’t even imagine how POC feel right now (well, have always felt!). It’s so important that we keep working towards and pushing for change. November can’t come soon enough!