Doing less for others in 2018 (part 1 here) left me time to sit with myself. I began to notice things. Like, I think my anti-anxiety medication is making me depressed. That was a revelation. I took immediate steps to carefully wean myself. I began to nap less and write more.
Once my energy and joy were back, I decided to actually use my paid time off. Every year, I get paid time off. I NEVER TAKE IT. We went to Colorado as a family and hiked and ate and played and hung out with people we adore. I took photos and timelapses and had snowball fights in the Rocky Mountain National Park.
We went to the mountains of North Carolina in July and golfed and swam and went white water rafting in Dillsboro–it’s the cutests little town you’ve ever seen with tons of rafting companies and several old movie sets like this one from The Fugitive.
A few weeks later, my university approached me and asked if I would be willing to go to India for a teach abroad conference. This is how I felt. More on that later.