Thanks Kathryn and Helen for this conversation that described my recent experience as an author and educator experiencing auto-immune challenges. The same open-heart quality that makes me a good care-giver, writer, and teacher makes me vulnerable to stress and nervous and immune system dysregulation. I need to adapt my work continually to fit it into the roles I play in my family, currently as a grandma, a role I love as it awakens joy, playfulness, and unconditional love in me. Yet, I am not ready to be invisible! I consider this to be the autumn of my life as in harvest time, not the quiet of winter. So I wrote a book about the joys of being a grandma, Where Wisdom Meets Wonder, Forty Stories of Grandma Love, which enlivened me but the complicated world of promoting my message has worn me out. And I am now experiencing symptoms. Recently, they have kept me home resting. During that time, I taught an online course on self care (ironically) with a raspy voice and low energy. The next morning, I woke with a stronger voice and an understanding that my drive to work so much comes from a belief that accomplishments validate my existence. Now I am rethinking my motivation, my goals, and how to work in a way that both pleases me and serves others. I am listening to my body to find out how.
Thanks so much for sharing this Kathryn! It was so helpful to me personally to go over these questions with you and try to make sense of everything!
Thanks Kathryn and Helen for this conversation that described my recent experience as an author and educator experiencing auto-immune challenges. The same open-heart quality that makes me a good care-giver, writer, and teacher makes me vulnerable to stress and nervous and immune system dysregulation. I need to adapt my work continually to fit it into the roles I play in my family, currently as a grandma, a role I love as it awakens joy, playfulness, and unconditional love in me. Yet, I am not ready to be invisible! I consider this to be the autumn of my life as in harvest time, not the quiet of winter. So I wrote a book about the joys of being a grandma, Where Wisdom Meets Wonder, Forty Stories of Grandma Love, which enlivened me but the complicated world of promoting my message has worn me out. And I am now experiencing symptoms. Recently, they have kept me home resting. During that time, I taught an online course on self care (ironically) with a raspy voice and low energy. The next morning, I woke with a stronger voice and an understanding that my drive to work so much comes from a belief that accomplishments validate my existence. Now I am rethinking my motivation, my goals, and how to work in a way that both pleases me and serves others. I am listening to my body to find out how.