First, it was my first free day in a very long time, or rather, I worked hard to get ahead in my class assignments to skip my Thursday dark-room hours, so I could spend an entire day focused mostly on art. But most importantly, it was a day entirely about me.
A day about me.
Beyond doing the few hours of "I-can't-schedule-this-ahead-of-time-work" before I left to start my day, I really made a conscious choice of not censoring myself.
Today, rather yesterday, I planned on going out without any semblance of my PR past.
In order to make a full pivot, I have to position myself differently with everyone. (repeat after me: change and reinvention is good for the creative soul).
So I actually removed PR and Social Media from my long list of titles and experience in both my Twitter and Instagram handles in preparation for this day.
The plan was...
I was going to be true to me.
Respect my own space.
Love what I love and saying no to what I didn't.
So it makes perfect sense that I responded to my hubby's text with "I can't talk right now, I will call you when I leave. xoxo" and let other calls go to voicemail.
I also didn't commit to anything while I was gone - because I have schedule to check.
But most importantly, I said no to several things I would have otherwise pretended not to care about:
I left an event when I wanted to.
I didn't try to squeeze dinner into time that didn't exist.
I celebrated new friendships.
And...I. had. fun.
But when it was time to say no, I did. "No, this does not work for me."
I did feel the pang of guilt, and apologized, which I shouldn't have. But I moved on...
Today I am celebrating the boundaries I have set.
How was your Thursday?
Ana Lydia
