Before I tell you about the thing I did, I need to give you a little background.
Over the years, I learned about self-care, went to trainings on it, and regularly taught on self-care. It’s one thing to talk about it, but if you’re like me, putting things into practice isn’t as easy.
I started my career in the non-profit world 24 years ago. At the time I was busy with six kids, homeschooling, and being the family shuttle service. The work I was doing was minimal and voluntary in the beginning but it grew to the point that I had to move it out of my home and into a public building. It grew as my children went off to college and got married. It grew, and it grew, and it grew.
I found it consumed me more than I’d like to admit. Don’t get me wrong, I love the work I do. I just don’t like the stress that being in leadership puts on me. A week of rest a couple times a year became a goal for me, off by myself with no one and nothing to be responsible for except myself.
It became harder to find places to go that we could afford. Then I had this bright idea. While driving one day, I saw a small SUV, like ours, pulling a miniature trailer. I’m not talking about a camper trailer with just enough room to sleep in. It was just like the big ones, only it looked like a toy.
After telling Jer my idea to get us a camper, so ‘I would always have a way to get the rest I needed, he got right on it. It’s specialty trailer made for cars that can’t haul much. Jer found a great deal on a nearly brand-new tiny, fully contained trailer.
We booked campsites for the summer and had a good time. I just hadn’t anticipated that camping wasn’t great for solitude. It’s like living in everyone’s back yard. Because the trailer was so cute, people would come ask us questions about it or take pictures as they walked by. Ugh.
Funny, or not so funny, how life gets in the way. Even being able to leave work has been difficult. We have a small, awesome staff but it’s not uncommon that as soon as we have all the positions filled, another opens. Being shorthanded and struggling with my high sense of responsibility makes it hard to leave for a whole week. I also found the idea of being alone and in a standing space of about 6 square feet for a week unappealing.
This brings me to my next bright idea. Watch for next post.
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