This picture of my desk on Friday night illustrates my life right now. Empty notebooks. A closed laptop. Piles of paper that don’t belong there. Library books buried in the detritus.
I took last week off from nearly all of my regular scheduled programming. My journaling streak? It’s over. Monday, August 30 was Day 513 and the last entry. The good thing is that I decided not to show up to my notebook on September 1st. I needed a break and I’m glad I took it.
(I did, however, continue meditating daily. I’m keen to make meditation my superpower {a reference to A Tale for the Time Being}. I also kept up with my 5 Year Journal.)
There was a lot going on around here and I was a walking ball of anxiety, which necessitated a little break. I don’t feel guilty or bad about breaking my streaks because taking this pause was a necessary way to honor my commitment to stillness this year.
This evening is nice and cool. The window at my desk is open and I can feel a breeze. I’m sorting through those piles and finding new homes for everything. I’m clearing a path through the bins and baskets of toys that have blocked my way this week.
I’m ready to start again, whatever that might look like.
Maybe you’re needing a break, too. Or maybe you’ve taken a long one and have been longing to jump back in, but in ways that make sense for you now. May you find the first tiny step in the right direction.
The Cozy Burrow 
Breaks are essential. They refresh the spirit.
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I totally agree. Pushing pause helped me think about what I want from this blog from here on out… what a difference!
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Breaks are truly a necessity and allow our minds, and bodies, to be rejuvenated. Enjoy your time, and the stillness around you.
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Thank you, Tina. I agree with you about how necessary rest is. It seems like I’ve needed a LOT of it this year and that’s okay.
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Absolutely! Enjoy your rest 😊
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This is something I find very important – it’s nice to have goals and maintaining them by habit tracker or otherwise, but some folks really forget that the habit should serve THEM. If it becomes the other way round, if the habits become a drag or chore, something is off. A streak is just a number, after all.
I hope you are really proud of yourself for looking what YOU needed and took that necessary break!! A lot of folks forget to. 🙂 I hope this week goes so much better for you and you will be in calmer waters soon.
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Thanks for the reminder, Julia! You’re so right – it can be easy to get caught up in what I feel like I’m “supposed” to be doing, rather than what’s really helping me.
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I agree – breaks are important. Making it a conscious choice is key, I believe. It becomes part of your self-care repertoire, rather than something that ‘happens to you.’ Well-played, Katie!
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I’ve needed so much rest this year, Jordy! I don’t know why it seems like this year has been so much harder than the last… but man. it has been!
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I like important of break.
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I like important of break.
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Thank you. So do I!!
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Hi
Ian so happy!
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Good for you, Katie! I like that you made the choice to take a break. It shows that you’re listening to what your body and mind say. Which is easier to do when embodying stillness. Hope this week goes well for you! It all ebbs and flows, I think.
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Thanks, Laila! It felt good to let go of so much of what I thought I “should” do last week and focused on things here at home instead.
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Reading this was like taking a deep, refreshing breath, Katie! It is fun to change things up, it helps with so many things… most, I like how it wakes my brain up and opens a window to new possibilities!
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I’m so happy to hear that, Kat. Thank you!
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I’m glad that taking a break from journaling was a conscious decision and that you’re at peace with it. I know we’ve had this conversation before about streaks and knowing that they can’t last forever. I’m still mighty impressed by how long you kept your streak up, but I’m even more impressed by how you’re approaching the end of that streak.
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Breaks are truly important. I hope yours was a good break! Also, I have a 5 year journal too (I think the same one, if it’s the blue on the right side of your photo?) and there are days when I have taken a break from that, and then gone back and filled in a day or two after the fact. I don’t do it often, but man… when I do take that break, it’s always because I need the mental break. Letting myself do that was something that was hard to learn, yet so important.
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Changing routine is not necessarily a negative thing. It is often good to do so. I often find that when I do, I am able to look at baffling situations in a new light. It is said that the one who cannot change also cannot grow. So, I see change as growth. Sometimes my growth is awfully full of weeds, but weeding is good, too. Some weeds actually turn out to be beneficial, too. Sigh… making some small changes to my routine here lately as well. Not as obvious, but there all the same. Shalom, Bear
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What a beautiful perspective shift, Bear. Thank you!!
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Sending love your way! I hope whatever was causing you anxiety has eased a little bit. Way to go for recognizing you needed a break and doing what you needed to do.
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Thanks, Kath! Things have gotten much better. And the break helped a lot!
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meditation is an awesome supapowa!! as is doing hard things because they’re the right things. (welcome back!)
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Thank you, Mary!!
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