Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while may remember that in addition to being a full-time mom, I also work from home as a designer for a local company. Doing both has been very tough, and it was always a struggle between what I was expected to do (work, work work!) and what I wanted to do (spend time with my little monkey!). The struggle for balance became tougher still last summer as Mariko and I scurried about to get our dream shop, superbuzzy, opened. Then, in January, the struggle became pure chaos as Brynne transitioned to a co-op preschool program, where I am required to put in a certain number of hours per week. I found myself working 4 jobs (mom, designer, superbuzzy partner, co-op volunteer), each of which required various amounts of time and dedication. The unfortunate side of the equation is that only one of those jobs actually involved a paycheck, and that was the one I cared least about!
This is in part to explain why my blog posting has been so incredibly infrequent lately, but also to post the hope that all this may soon change. I quit my "real" job yesterday, in the hopes that a better balance between work, creative outlets, and family can be achieved. The work won't be gone overnight - I've promised to see my existing projects through to completion - but I should be able to gradually transition away from it. It feels like an enormous burden removed, and I'm oh-so-optimistic about what this will mean for my mental and emotional health, not to mention my relationship with my daughter and husband! As with any major change, I'm finding myself scared and a bit out of sorts, but also pretty darn happy. I won't pretend that I'm going to be able to just jump right back into blogging and crafting, but I think you might start seeing more of me, bit by bit. I'd love to hear from anyone out there about struggles to find balance, and what may or may not have worked. It seems as if there's no one solution, since the variables keep changing and re-working themselves... I'm just trying to regain my sanity, happiness, and a bit of peace of mind!
