She was feeling drained, done, depleted. Dead. Work was on overload, projects coming in right and left, deadlines somehow fast forwarding in front of her, and the company she worked for was, like everyone else, short staffed and on demand. Personally things were about the same. The shorting electric needed to be addressed, her car was past due for a lot of things, groceries that she swore she just bought were gone, and her husband, well generally speaking, her husband was like a second full time job. Even when she did get a chance to work on her hobbies, it was like she was just giving more of herself over, giving more of herself away, and nothing was fueling her fire.
Maybellie found herself still in the middle of the whirlwind of her life. Frozen amid the chaos. For moments she just sat there, not watching as her email blew up or the cat scratched at the new tree she had bought for her office space. In her text messages a note from her college bestie – something about this new app for female wellness – sat open, unresponded to. Maybellie laughed, pulling her knees up to her chest, sitting curled up on her office chair. Her thick, dark brown hair her cascading off in every direction. College… hell, even in the recent past, she used to be fun and free. Fine, she thought, at least it will be a welcomed distraction.
Within minutes her intrigued took over her skepticism. Thousands of stories for women, relaxing soundscapes, even just the art for the app… a small spark warmed inside her. With no one around to judge her, Maybellie gave into her distraction. It felt good. It felt good to just relax. To be in a space where no one needed anything from her and finally someone, well an app, was giving her something. She fed off of it. Got off on it.
When she was done, a different done than before, she looked around her office space. Everything here was something she loved. She had created this space for her. Her shoulders dropped, for what felt like the first time in days, if not weeks. She felt re-energized. Picking up the phone she texted back her college bestie. They laugh, they reminiscenced, they joked about their exploration phase and planned for a reboot – surely their husbands wouldn’t notice. Sure, it was a little crass, but it was all in good fun.
Maybellie put down her phone, and situated herself back in her chair. For the rest of the day she sworn to tackle every challenge, every task, every moment with fun. Already weeks, maybe years, of uptightness rolled off of her. She was rejuvenated, ready, filled with possibilities and hope. Alive.