Breathtaking paper art...

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/100-extraordinary-examples-of-paper-art/

Thanks to simplykimberly for the link!

Finding balance

After returning from the Georgia-Florida trip on NYE, I've been taking this past week off from work.

Originally it was to focus intensely on projects catch-up. I've done some of that - there are a few things that I'm very glad to have off my to-do list - but even more importantly, it became a week of restoring balance to my life that has long been missing.

Seven months ago I opened a new psychology practice in Sunnyvale, so that I could work closer to home. It grew astonishingly rapidly. This was a good thing, but it took a while to wrap my mind around it. Every couple of months found me regrouping around the changes, facing hard decisions that, by the time I made them, were well overdue.

August - "I think it's time to stop taking new clients in San Francisco." October - "I think it's time to close my San Francisco practice." December - Actually closing my San Francisco practice. January - "I think it's time to hold off on taking new Sunnyvale clients until my caseload has reduced by 25%."

Because there's only so many hours that it's healthy to work, and I was going well past that. When you're self-employed, you're well aware of the potential for low-workflow times, and so it becomes instinctive to take on as many clients as come your way, 'cause who knows how long the current wave-crest will last?

But I wasn't getting enough hangout time with the folks at home, and was barely spending time with anyone else, and I hadn't gone geocaching much in just about forever, and I had stopped cooking, stopped doing much housework... all the things that make life sane. I did manage some wonderful travels in there, and saw a lot of people dear to me between the Northwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Australia trips... but even that took on a play-hard, work-hard quality as my work hours overflowed on either side of any given trip.

So, since returning home... I've been hanging out more with folks both inside and outside of the house, doing fun stuff like watching Iron Chef and doing crosswords with patgreene, and eating meals out with various people, and learning to play video games that the kids are into. I helped a friend with their move, and went shopping for an electric blanket for the 19yo. I've been taking more walks. I've been cooking - today's soup was Cauliflower Cannellini, and there were blackeyed peas on New Years and almond string beans mid-week, and a pretty salad with pomegranate seeds on it somewhere in there as well. And the 13yo and I made fresh tangerine juice together from the fruits that he and the 15yo picked from the tree in our yard :-)

I've been making inroads towards better body-care. The aforementioned cooking is important, as are the walks. But I also scheduled a bunch of appointments. This week I've already had a routine mammogram, a massage, and a haircut; and Pandora-cat got a vet trip. Still ahead are a routine physical, routine STI testing, and the dentist.

And, next week brian1789 and I have set aside a few days to do some home-improvement stuff, namely cleaning out the garage in preparation for making it a parlor-like hangout space.

So, I am feeling more balanced this week. Monday begins work again. Still over-scheduled, as post-vacation is wont to be, but that will gradually ease. Hopefully this good start to the new year will presage a better-balanced year overall.