Happy Wednesday!

Good morning. 

My day started with a few miles of hiking with my happy doggo. Frisbee practice, plus swimming in the river. It is a great way to start the day.

Checking the Diary is set aside for today in favour of hikes and sharing (at least) one session later on. I'm finding a nice balance between SbE, my everyday life career, the joys of moving, and re-entering the socially-distanced socialising. Thankfully the weather is agreeing with lots of picnics in the park.

Thank you for the sweet notes yesterday. I promise I didn't drop off the face of the earth. I'm usually around my laptop more on M/W/F.  Remember, your Empress (dave, do you feel like I'm just messing with you now?) loves many creative projects and that means time away from the screen.

I have homework for you, if you're not too shy. Send me a few of your favourite pics. I could use a virtual holiday tour of different places/things/etc. Email: spokenbyelswyth@gmail.com  

I do use google hangouts/chat as well, but like many avenues I only check it when I'm around the laptop. I don't keep a lot of social things on my phone, I realised a while ago it stops me from doing deeper work.

If I can help it, I don't multitask. I think the nearest I get to it is making coffee while writing a Patreon post ;) And even with that I'm using the drip pot, not the moka.

I've had others ask about my hypnotherapy training. I was drawn to it as a way to find a "shutting off" that I desperately needed. My career was high-pressure, on-call, competitive, and full of a lot of split second decisions. I loved my work and my patients, but wanted to avoid the burnout that is common in that field. I didn't. 

Instead, I decreased my availability and worked more towards building a hypnotherapy practice. Fate, destiny, whatever.. walked into my life and I ended up relocating internationally.  

Years of being on call, or always available, constantly checking a calendar.. and I decided to step away from it and go another direction. It has been a wonderful change for me. It is part of the reason why SbE doesn't have a set-in-stone publishing schedule. I'd rather create and share as it feels right. It's also why some of you may feel very teased by my on and off again availability. 

In today's world, the idea that you can't instantly reach someone seems bizarre, right? Yet, I encourage you to be unreachable sometimes. It is a good feeling to know that you own your time, your space, and it can't be randomly invaded.  Be out of touch for two hours and you'll come away from that time feeling renewed. 

So - homework . Share a pic if you feel comfortable doing so. If not, do something creative in ANY fashion .. bake, draw, sing, garden, etc. Step off the treadmill of life and steal some time for yourself.  

Mistress Elswyth