Leave Room for What Restores You

I’ve been thinking a lot about balance lately. Maybe because I’ve been building something I care very deeply about.

There is an incredible amount of work that happens behind the scenes when you’re creating something of your own. There are websites and emails, schedules and details, things to write, things to photograph, social media to keep up with, marketing to plan, and all the little things that help your voice reach the people you’re trying to reach.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, there’s the actual work you set out to do in the first place.

For me, that work requires something else.

Quiet.

I need time in my studio. I need time outside. I need to walk down to the creek without needing to turn the experience into anything. I need time with my animals, my horses and dogs. I need to pick up a stone simply because it caught my eye. I need room to create when something wants to be created. And I need enough of myself left to give my full attention and care to the people and animals who trust me to work with them.

I don’t think balance is necessarily about dividing our lives into perfectly equal pieces. I think it’s knowing which things deserve more of us today. It’s also recognizing when we’ve been giving too much attention to the things that make noise and not enough to the things that quietly restore us. Sometimes that means closing the computer and walking outside.

I’ve been very intentional about the way I’m creating Healing with Becky Nichols. The people and animals I work with will always deserve my full attention, but I also know that taking care of the person doing the work matters too.

Creativity matters. Rest matters. Time outside matters. The things that bring us back to ourselves matter.

The kind of balance I’m interested in now isn’t about trying to fit everything into every day. It’s about making sure I leave room for the things that allow me to remain fully myself.

And lately, more often than not, you’ll find some of that room beside a little Appalachian creek.