Priorities & You

Priorities.

Today I’ve had that word, “Priorities” swarming around in my mind, especially since GA is starting to reopen the state and reality is coming back and hitting us full force. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Priorities for years now and some days we are great, but other days are a real struggle and I just want to ignore Priorities and go wallow in my bed.

Maybe I have too many priorities? Maybe I’m prioritizing the wrong things? Should napping be a priority? Am I spending too much time scrolling through instagram for “research purposes”? Will I always feel like maybe I didn’t do enough in some cases or I did too much in others? Did I not prioritize myself enough?

What I have learned about priorities and how to decipher which are true priorities and which can wait, is that timing and necessity is everything. This word that we’re talking about today is defined as the fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important (source: Oxford Dictionary). So when there is a deadline in one week compared to a deadline in one month, the deadline in a week is more important and takes priority, obviously.

But what about when the thing that should take precedent over others involves you and your health and mindset and joy? Should that thing be at the top of your list?

YES.

You know the saying, you cannot pour from an empty cup? This applies to all of us.

For instance, in my art, I can sit down and knock out every order I have in one day, but is that going to serve my clients in the best way possible? What if I have the entire day scheduled for clay and then I sit down and three pieces turn into scraps because my head just isn’t in it? When that happens, I have to give myself grace and let it go and flip flop my priorities for that day. I’ll still meet my deadlines, I always do. I’ve learned to schedule in a way that allows for some wiggle room. But if I force myself into my art, nothing good will come of it. Forcing myself to make certain pieces on a day where my hands and my head are not communicating will not give those pieces justice. With all art, I believe, an artist has to feel the art to be able truly give herself to the process. Sometimes it takes making one piece three times before I’m happy with it and I want to share it with the world and that’s okay.

I have to make sure I am mindful of the process and I am present. This is for everything in life. When I sit down to write, it’s because my brain has clambered over a topic for hours or days and that makes me feel the need speak it because sharing is my purpose. Fulfilling my purpose is my number one priority. Whatever it takes to fulfill my purpose is what is important to me, whether it be my art, my learning, allowing myself to stop and take a nap, or just taking a day and not looking at my list and chillaxing. All of this affects my work and my heart and giving myself to others would not be possible if I did not have my own internal balance on point.

What is that you’re prioritizing? Are you giving yourself to projects, work, and people without checking yourself first?

I don’t punish myself anymore for taking a nap because I know what happens to Britni when she doesn’t get enough sleep and I will never allow myself to go back to that last semester of college because that was no good. I was artistically fueled because I made myself be present in my art, but I wasn’t present anywhere else. Not at work, not at home, not internally. It paid off because I loved my senior show…. But my goals are different now and I have decided to put myself first so that I can serve others in the best way possible.

So yeah, if you need to nap, or drink a bottle of wine and sit and cry for a minute, or spend a whole day on the couch eating and watching tv, that is fine. But be sure you don’t let it get out of hand. Be sure to show up for yourself once you get that “self care release” out of your system, and I promise you will be so much better for it.

Alex says to me sometimes during a movie, “Britni, you don’t always have to cry. Crying doesn’t solve anything.” But yes, yes I do have to cry and I need to cry and it’s okay to cry! And if this is a priority to you, that’s okay too. You have to be your best somehow and you have to show up for yourself, because in the end, you are who matters and you cannot take care of others properly if you don’t pay attention to yourself first.

I urge you to schedule a certain time everyday doing something that fills you with joy. And don’t just schedule it, make it happen. Be able to mark that off of your list, whether its taking a walk, doing yoga, making tea, reading a book, or snuggling the animals, task it and fulfill it and you’ll see the rise in your accomplished priorities real quick after.