Today I am slowly jumping back into work after being MIA for over a week. Yep, totally MIA. I emailed my current clients a short explanation and disappeared from the web without a sound!

The truth is… I lost a very close family member and had no choice but to step away from work. It was very unexpected and I am grateful for those of you that have reached out over social media to express your condolences.

This forced break away from work made me realize how much I truly needed it and why it’s so important to take breaks even when you might not want to.

For starters, this break gave me time to process what was happening in my life but most importantly it gave me extra time to spend with family. Sometimes we are so busy with our lives we hardly ever see each other anytime other than during special occasions AND it shouldn’t be that way.

The second thing this break taught me is that self care can be as simple as sitting on your couch watching Netflix all day drinking soda and eating popcorn. I realized I hadn’t done that in awhile and it felt really good to be able to sit back and relax with work completely off my mind.

The third thing this break taught me is that decluttering is good for the soul… which I kind of already knew but hadn’t put into action because I was so busy working everyday.

I go through decluttering phases every so often but hadn’t done a BIG decluttering phase in awhile and this break gave me the time to do it. I got to declutter everything from my closet to desk which is super important to me. A clutter free environment is a stress free environment!

The last thing this break taught me is that creativity needs to be recharged sometimes. I would almost compare it to a battery.

Not actively creating everyday gave my mind some time to build up new ideas and get excited about jumping back into work again.

Hopefully this little life story encourages you to take a break from work because it WILL have positive side effects :)!

And one last thing, I know I said I took a break from work but I did create something using my design skills during this time.

That something was the funeral program for my dear cousin, Madyson Kay Scott.

This is probably the most important piece of work I’ve ever created to date and I am honored to be able to say I helped make her funeral program.

This program was read by 400 + people who all came out to express their condolences and share their loving stories of my kind hearted cousin. The number of people she impacted during her 20 years of life is amazing.

~ In memory of Madyson Kay Scott ~

If you are interested in making a donation in memory of Madyson Kay Scott please visit this link.