Taking a moment to breathe.

I’m a bit of a workaholic.

Ever since midway through undergrad, when I realized how rewarding it was to earn all As, despite all the hard work and long hours, I’ve been a work before play kind of girl.  It’s a lot easier for me to relax if I’ve completed everything I have to do, so I have a predisposition toward rolling up my sleeves and hacking away at whatever needs to be hacked at so that my play time isn’t hampered by any stress or to-do lists.

Positives to this lifestyle include work always completed on time or early and a developed efficiency at finishing tasks and achieving goals.  I’m not sure if I’d be running today had I not been so stubborn with sticking to the couch to 5k program, because I wouldn’t say I loved running in those first few weeks.

However, negatives to this lifestyle include always working (because when is everything ever done?  There’s always something that needs to be done, at some point..),  and at times worrying that idle time is wasted time.

I’m always going to trend toward working before playing– it’s what I feel comfortable doing.  But once grad school was over, I realized how delightful a stolen moment can be, even if there is work to be done.  I took this self portrait a few weeks back, right after Erin’s shoot (recognize the balloon?).  In a way, it symbolizes those moments where you let worries go and just soak in the quietness of it all.

If you’re like me, I hope you have a chance to have moments like this every now and then.  It’s worthwhile.