Your Body Is Trying To Tell You Something

I’ve got a story for you this week. A story of honoring your intuition and your body.

Let’s go all the way back to Busy Season 2014….

It was nearing the end of my season and I specifically remember telling my mom that I wasn’t going to take any more sessions. I was too tired, and I didn’t think I could do it.

         Sidebar: I just looked back at my calendar and there’s no doubt I was experiencing exhaustion.

But a family called and wanted on the books. I thought “just one more, but this is the LAST one.” I didn’t even have anywhere to put them during regular business hours; so I put them on a Monday evening. Which also happened to be the day of a funeral for a family member and my Christmas Special was the weekend prior. 

The session was a shit show – I can’t imagine why.

It was a disaster from the beginning. At the very first location I was walking backwards after posing, I tripped over a small boulder. I broke my camera, and bruised my right knee cap as well as my tailbone. Oh, and my ego.

The images from here on out were TERRIBLE. And not because I was using my secondary camera to shoot with. 

We went to a second location that I had never shot at before and frankly I would have been uncomfortable shooting there even if I was using my primary camera and the stumble and fall wouldn’t have just happened. I don’t recall the rest of the session. I just recall feeling defeated and gross. I tried to reschedule a second session for them and offered some free stuff. But the damage was done. 

I didn’t listen to my intuition telling me “NO MORE!” I thought I could get just one more in; make a little bit more money. But instead I wasted their time and mine and had to send my camera off to be repaired.

There is no doubt that hard work will get you far in life. But also working yourself to the point of exhaustion and breakdown is not beneficial to anyone. I recall feeling pretty apathetic and just generally didn’t give a shit throughout several points in my journey. It’s always because I had over committed myself.

No one is capable of doing all of the things, all of the time, forever.

It’s not sustainable. You have to give yourself permission to say no. If you do not purposefully say “no” and schedule yourself time to rest and recharge, your body will do it on it’s own. Which generally happens at the most inconvenient times possible. Save yourself the trouble of tripping over boulders; literally and figuratively, schedule in time to rest and recover.

Listen to what your body and your intuition are trying to tell you. If you feel like your life is all screwy it is likely because you are not listening to what you are being told. Honor your feelings, they’re here to help.

**portrait by Molly McGilvray