Today would have been the 14th anniversary of my time with my former employer had I not quit about a month ago. It was becoming more and more clear that the company's priorities were different than they had been. And I was never going to measure up to the (unrealistic?) expectations set by a revolving door of bosses. So, I saved up my money, found a couple of contract jobs, and turned in my resignation.
During the last month, I've employed a number of self-care techniques including travel (which isn't something I normally do) and reading (which is a life-long passion.) I've also taken the time to nook-and-cranny my house and my online life. What does that mean? I'm going through everything, everything, to see whether or not it serves me. And what am I noticing? If I had been paying closer attention, I would have noticed my unhappiness a lot sooner.
When my life is going well, I never let my blog posts pile up. I had to go through almost 2,000 posts to catch up. When my life is going well, my ratings on books are inevitably higher (I'm guessing that's true for everyone). There were a lot of two and three stars reviews from me 7/8 months ago. When my life is going well, my TBR is usually at the same level or going slightly down (unless I go to book conferences... but that's another story) and it was going up and up and up and stressing me out.
Right now, I am thankful. Thankful that I am in a place where I don't have to work in a job that is so toxic just to make the rent. Thankful that I am getting to a place where I am exercising every day, even if that only means a 30 minute walk with my dog. Thankful that I can take some time to cull down my TBR as well as re-read old favorites. I am thankful that the friends who have been telling me for over a year that it is time to get out aren't saying, "I told you so" although it is well within their rights. Thankful that my therapist was able to cut through the bullshit and figure out what was really bothering me.
tl;dr Take care of yourselves -- try to use your books to figure out when you're in a life slump -- self-care is never a bad thing