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From Clearissa Coward’s Command Center

I Had An Epiphany-AChange Is Gonna Come

Epiphany

How is your summer going so far? I hope you and your families are enjoying the hot, hazy, and for some, lazy days. Up until Sunday, July 15, 2018, my summer had been just like my entire year so far, filled to the brim with stuff to do. But on Sunday, July 15, I Had An Epiphany and it may have saved my life.  Let me give you a bit of the back-story and then you can tell me what you think.

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C4 Boutique

If you follow me, you know both my mom and my hubs’ mom have not been well and were both placed in senior living facilities and neither of them live close to us. I am not going into all of that again. But suffice it to say that because of that we have been stretched out traveling to see each of them. And in my case, to make sure all is well with her and her property and her life in general. This all falls to me because I am an only child. Thankfully, my husband has a sister living in the same city as his mom.

           
However, even before our mothers’ situations took a turn for the worst, I have been on my hustle to make my blog a successful one and I have driven myself into the ground and into burnout without even realizing it. As a DIYer/Crafter and lifestyle blogger, in order to have projects to share with my readers/with you, I have to create and complete projects. Sounds easy enough…right? Wrong. While working on a project, photos and videos must be produced, each step of a project recorded, and supply lists developed as well. Also, pictures and video must be edited which is the most time-consuming part of it all.  Not just any old photos but good photos and believe me when I tell you, a photographer I am not. 🙂 But I try. I have even invested in a decent camera, lighting, tripods and all sorts of little do-dads to make my blog a positive experience for my readers/for you. And if I say so myself, my photography and videography are improving. I love my blog. I love my readers/I love you. It is my passion.

Stencil

With all that said, since I began taking my blog, my Youtube channel, my Etsy store, and my craft boutique seriously, I have done little else and on Sunday, July 15, I realized something had to give. You see, I have gained 17 pounds because I have stopped going to the gym. I do not see my girlfriends hardly ever, I rarely spend a day doing absolutely nothing or just sitting and enjoying my deck. And even more upsetting, hubs and I have not taken one vacation this entire year unless we were going to see my mom who lives 3.5 hours away or his mom who lives 2 hours away. If you would call that a vacation and believe me, it is not. It is some alone time in the car where we can catch up and just be for awhile. At this point, we take what we can get.  However, it is not time enough to whoosah.

Epiphany

On July 15, I decided to reevaluate. I decided to regroup. I decided to reestablish myself and to make myself and my family and friends a priority. Do not get me wrong. I love my blog and I love you guys to pieces and I am so grateful for those of you who have been on this journey with me from day 1. But in order for me to make it worth your while and to keep you coming back, I have to be happy and relaxed doing what I love so much. Being the organizer I am, I decided to take myself on as a client and to organize my schedule as I would for any other client. The epiphany is that I can’t keep working 8 hours or more on my 9 – 5 and coming home and working another 8 hours on my business every night and most of Saturday and Sunday as well. Nope, the pace is not sustainable and it allows little time for anything else. And the 17+ pounds I have gained are proof positive of that.  🙄

SPANX

I want to bring you good content. I want to be consistent on all fronts and to do that, I must find a balance in my life. I began this journey because organization, DIYing, and crafting are my passions and I thought it would be fun to share those passions with you. I have to get back to the fun and away from the stress of the hustle.

I promise you that I will get it together. I will create a schedule that allows me to take care of me, spend time with my family and friends and to make the Command Center a place where you want to hang out, learn something, share something and simply enjoy.

I began that change in my flow this past week. I went to the gym 3 days last week. I ate lighter lunches and I spent some quality time with hubs just having a cold drink on the deck 2 evenings. I even kept my grandson over the weekend and it felt good. I think I have come up with a workable schedule and I thought I would run it by you, my blog family.

Grove Grove Collaborative

Do you think it would be enough if I posted once a week to the blog and once every other week to the YouTube channel? That is the schedule I am thinking about working towards. I will also send my subscribers my newsletter once a week as well. I was thinking I would post to the blog every Wednesday, upload a video every other Friday and upload my chit chat newsletter every Monday. That schedule seems sustainable to me. It allows me time to live my life while bringing you good, consistent, and quality content. Quality over quantity. Of course, there will be little extras thrown in here and there but as long as I am working my full-time job, I think this is a good and realistic schedule.

avon

So here is where you come in. I need your opinion. I need your feedback. Do you think this is a schedule that is worthy of a successful blog? If you are a blogger, please I would love to hear your thoughts. It’s taken a while to get to this place. Do you think I am on the right track to having balance in my life again? Can I do the things I love (blog and be an entrepreneur) and still maintain a normal life that includes time with my family, friends and especially myself?

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Until next time…I remain in my Element – God Bless!

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XOXO,

 

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