Word Nerd, Anyone?

At one time I imagined myself a writer. I was one of those kids that always had a notebook or something, waiting for inspiration to hit me... I guess, I'm still that kid. But now, most of my pages are full of To Do lists and reminders for meetings and don't forget to calls...

In my mind, graduate school squashed out the rest of the creativity that excessive responsibility didn't kill. It's frowned upon in some peer- reviewed journals, it seems... I still like to write. And read. And correct other people's writing... and talk about books... You could say, I'm a word nerd. [heh]

Why am I babbling about this? Partly, because it's the middle of the night and those are the best times for babbling... partly because, words being my thing and all, writing this is bringing me down from the work I've been consumed with for the past two hours.... but mostly because you gotta know what you love. Not just who you love. But what gives you those "YES!" feelings. What helps you look forward? For many moms (sorry to sound exclusive, I'm just going on anecdote, here) I have worked with, they have lost sight of who they WERE before they became a mom. And as the kids get older, they have little insight into who they ARE as people, now. It makes it hard to let your little birds leave that nest if you are sitting around staring at the empty straw, wondering what makes you feel worthwhile...

... So... off you go! Find it. Do it. LOVE IT! (and yourself).

And Remember: Special time is for grown- ups, too.

Wow. It's been a while since my last post. I must have been pretty busy over the last six weeks...

The reason that I named this blog "Patchwork PhD" is because my career is patched together from a bunch of different things that I really like doing. I’m an instructor at one place, a supervisor and administrator at another place, a clinician in private practice, and a consulting psychologist for Family court. Add in all of that, plus the community work, the professional service, and the mommy-hood and sometimes I don’t have time to think, let alone blog!

One reason I wear so many hats is because I like to take opportunities as they come to me. I like to be busy, and I love to feel helpful… And here’s the problem.

If you say yes all the time, it starts to get harder to do good work in all the things you commit to. Then things start to slide: Sleep, exercise, and healthy eating are usually the first to go with me… With many of the families that I work with, I see similar things. And all that stress starts to take its toll on getting along and being together.

So, today’s challenge is to all those working parents… that’s right, dad’s, too. (For the record, I don’t think dad’s can babysit their own kids despite what the Census Bureau says. That is a topic for a different blog. Click here for one dad’s view of the ridiculous of the whole thing. I digress.)

What has started to slide in your life? Is it time to reprioritize something? You can’t wait for time to create itself for special time with the kids, or fitness, or date night with the spouse. You have to MAKE time. Schedule something for this week that you have been putting off. I dare you.