Rest.

Maybe I sound a bit intense in this week’s nature walk recording…

But it’s only because this topic hits hard.

For the past seven years, I have been in a spiral of overwork.

When I started a floral business, I had no idea what I was in for.

I started by selling a handful of foraged wreaths.

In just a few years, I found myself struggling to keep up with the workload, the attention, the accolades, the invitations, and everything that comes with success.

At the end of one wedding season, I had to crawl into the bath. My back had begun to give out yearly. This year was the worst of it.

I simply could not move for the pain.

It took the entire industry grinding to a halt due to a worldwide pandemic, for me to slow down.

It was the first summer I got enough rest, ate nutritious food, and had time to run in the morning light.

I was broke, I was often scared, but I was more present than I had been in years.

I promised myself, after that time, never to return to the old frenzied pace. And I have stuck with that promise.

My ideal life is no longer about running the fastest or getting the most validation.

It’s about all those moments in between where I remember how very alive I am. And those moments are now as simple as sipping a tea while I witness the silver of the afternoon cloudscape just outside my living room window.

As creative people, as business owners, as human beings, it’s important to move with the rhythms of our bodies, our lives and the seasons.

Everything is just a moment in time.

If you are tired, rest.