I realized last week, after having a not fun thing happen, that all these weeks of winter isolation have not been good for my soul. If they had been brought about by a concisous act to be alone that might have been different, but to seclusion because of laziness or family nesting isn't necessarily enriching or liberating.
Here's what happened. I got a dose of bad news, twice, about professional/work related things. Both times they were a blow to my ego and my heart.
But for weeks - almost since Thanksgiving - I have been isolated. I have worked, yes, but I haven't made one bit of time for friendship.
And when those crappy moments happened I realized that I couldn't just call up my friends and whine. I am pretty sure friends don't love friends that just whine.
Sure, I reached out to four amazing professional women that I know to help me see the brighter side - and that helped immensely. But even then I felt guilty for wasting their time or not engaging fully at other times and only coming when I had a problem.
So, I learned something about myself. (See, always a silver lining to the crap life shows you.) I need to continue to cultivate relationships. Personal and professional relationships. I need to make the time. I need to value friendship as a life long pursuit, just like I do work and family.
I think some people know this instinctively. Me, not so much. But I am slowly learning.
For kicks check out my books and become my friend on Goodreads. Read my friend Jesse's blog, A Handmade Life. And need tech and work info that you can easily digest, read EvolvedMommy.