Recently I was coaching a new manager at a large corporation. The promotion was a big stretch and she was peddling hard to keep up. She and her husband were also parenting two pre-schoolers. She was alternately overwhelmed and excited. Toward the end of the session she wistfully added that it had been years since she had picked up her paintbrush. I understood her nostalgia. Flash back 15 years and that was me. I had a full-time job, I was working on my master’s degree and we were adjusting to our newly divorced family. I careened from one work project to another and one paper to another. There was barely time to feed my excellent children (they will tell you they fed themselves most of the time). There was no time for creative expression.
If this sounds familiar I extend the same words of comfort to you as I did to my young coaching client:
You can have it all…..eventually.
My wise friend, Janet, is fond of reassuring me that, “Life is long”. She doesn’t mean that I can squander my time unconsciously. She means to reassure me that there will be time for the important things. And I believe she is right.
Eventually, I did graduate and life settled down and now I have multiple creative pursuits. That young manager will return to her painting when her job is more familiar, when her children are older. Or she will find another outlet for her creativity.
I know this because it has been my privilege to find role models who are proofs of the concept. Diane Lou is one dear friend who is having the unexpected time of her life. On her blog she writes of her art and delight in learning new things.
So, please stop beating yourself up because you haven’t yet written that novel, started that blog, sewn that purse, finished that woodworking project, picked up your guitar…..
You WILL…or find something even better.
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