Update: Where have you been?

Running around and trying to figure out life. That's where I have been.

Just kidding, I have been somewhere in some place trying to get myself back on the rails of living. Really living.

The sunset at Wrightsville Beach (2025).

I have been tapped out of living for the past six month and instead I was just surviving. I was waking up every morning only to check off my daily tasks instead of soaking the world in around me. I was too busy stressing about my job and money, what meal I was going to be cooking for dinner, and what homework I had to complete before the next day. My life and education felt like a chore, another check-box that I had to tick off to carry on.

Ticking off boxes, crossing my T's and dotting my I's was getting me nowhere but an spiraling feeling of stress, anxiety and most importantly, burn out. It was time for me to take my life back into hands and start living again.

I Reached a Huge Milestone During This Time

I did more than get over the hurdle of burnout-- I graduate with my bachelors degree.

A terrible quality photo from a high quality memory.

I finally walked across the stage and received my diploma after working on it for three years. My bachelors in English has landed me a current report writing job for a local mental health practice in my college town.

I finally walked across the stage and received the diploma that I have spent countless hours hunched over my laptop writing papers and reading books. It is a degree that I am proud to earn. I am able to become the reader, writer, and researcher that I strive to be (even though I didn't really need the degree to do all of that, it was a passion that I wanted to pursue). Now, I am almost done with my first semester in graduate school (take a guess at what I am studying...) and I am forever grateful for the memories, knowledge and people that I had met throughout this time.

Also... I got a new job with my degree.

Journalism O' Journalism...

99.9% of my writing efforts have been dedicated to my journalism work. It has genuinely been the light at the end of the tunnel for me during this recession of burnout. A lot of passion goes into journalism and it is more than just reporting on events and topics for purely information. It is hearing the stories, struggles and successes from those within your community. It is also a space where writers with all different backgrounds gather around to create a community of people who all have the same passion as me. That is what helped me snap back to reality; it was getting back to who I am.

What Does the Future Hold?

That, my friends, is what I ask myself every day. What does the future hold for me? What will I be working towards? Short answer, anything that helps me bloom, grow, and become the person that I am destined to be.

I am in the final stretch of this spring semester (thank goodness, loved her but sheesh she has thrown me into whiplash) and I will have more time to focus on the creative works, passions, and hobbies that I am meant to do.

It has been a challenged these past few months and don't get me wrong, I am still recovering from this burnout. However, it is not constraining me anymore and I know how to navigate through it. It is more than just having one self-care a night, it is about having self-care every day. It is important to take care of your well-being, to live, to breathe, and most importantly-- to be human.