Maybe not for Ross & Rachel, but we all need breaks.

The last time I sat down and took time to write was realistically in February when I did my Trend Forecasting for 2022., which is quite literally forever ago. When I look back at the person I was the last time I wrote, I was in a completely different place than where I am today. Not that ~I’m different~ now, but I am. I needed a break from doing things that I love to remember why I loved them, and that includes writing.

This time last year I was finishing up my second semester of graduate school. Really, grad school and work took up all of my time. Not complaining at all, but I could not make enough time to squeeze in the activities that I loved. I loved school, so at the time, it filled all of my needs. Being a full time employee and a full time student at the same time became my personality (sorry to everyone that I know). Because of this, I really lost my sense of self. I stopped working out, I stopped exploring places that inspired me, and I stopped writing. My time was precious, and I had to apply myself where it was best fit for me to succeed financially and socially. With the little free time that I had on the weekends, I chose to go out and socialize with my friends and meet new people in the city – something I would not change for the world. But now that the engulfing school aspect of my life is complete, I am picking back up those things that I love.

Losing my sense of self through writing is hard to put into words, and hard to explain to y friends or someone that has not been in my shoes. The best way to explain falling out of love with a hobby is comparing it to reading in middle school. When we were young, there was nothing better than going to the public library with your mom to pick out a new book, or being given cash to purchase easy-read chapter books at the elementary school book fair. As we grew up, reading became less about enjoyment and was made a requirement. Since we were required to read beginning in middle school, the desire to read for leisure diminished. This was the same thing with writing. When I first started writing for fun in 2020, I could not get enough. I began writing for myself, and sometimes for others if it applied. Writing about my personal experiences, my passions, etc. was a great creative outlet for me, and 10/10 times I would have rather written than scrolled on social media. When I began grad school in August of 2021, I began writing WAY more… for school. Since I was required to write, the enjoyment aspect was lost. When school wrapped up in August 2022, I was drained. I had just completed my graduate program that was a year long, with no breaks. Wrapping up the program sucked out every creative and motivational bone out of my body, because I truly left it all on the field. Here I am, there months later, finally getting the drive and the creative itch back to get back into doing the things I love. Will I be extraordinarily consistent? Probably not, but that takes time.

Time heals all, and the break is over. Happy to say I’m back in a relationship with WordPress ❤