How To Protect Your Peace

and why I've been quiet here lately

Reading time: about 4 minutes.

When I started this newsletter last June, I wanted to be consistent but also allow room for space to grow if I needed it to. Motherhood has taught me this space is necessary to protect my peace.

When we think of “balancing” work and life, we’re painting an image of standing on an unstable beam hoping one area won’t lower or that we won’t topple over.

But when I think of integrating work and life, I think of how nature moves in and out of seasons.

We’re in a crazy transition here in the Pacific Northwest corner of the United States between winter and spring. Yesterday it snowed, rained, hailed, and was sunny multiple times in the day. This is what parenthood feels like to me: a period of constant back and forth…then your child or life routine has changed and you’re not sure when that happened!

Why I’ve Been More Conscious About This

In the past year I have discovered my nervous system is more fragile to stress than it used to be. Last year there was a period of time where I had immense prickly pain all over my body and eventually it disappeared. The only explanation we have determined has been that my body physically and mentally was under enough distress that it reacted violently toward itself.

This has lead to me experimenting with tracking how I feel throughout an already instable hormone cycle and I can realize I literally have two weeks out of a 45 day time period that I feel amazing and the other days are a slow spiral into exhaustion and a body that feels like lead.

I’ve been comforting myself by thinking about these cycles in the way the Earth moves through seasons and remember that autumn and spring have slow transitions in and out of winter. I have slow transitions too, as my body tries to reset again.

What To Do

There are a few things that have been helping me along the way.

1. I use Loops earplugs (not an affiliate) to help with my sensory overload, an issue that became more present after having my daughter. I have three pair now to help me when the noise levels create more anxiety for me.

2. I color code my Google Calendar to reflect task themes. (see image in the top of this newsletter). I often do this after my day to see how much time I’ve spent on certain tasks during overwhelming weeks. If I see I’ve overloaded myself with Networking Events in purple, I know to either reschedule or change it up the following week. I try to make notes on how I felt after busy days. Google shows you to the left side bar how those colors break down in hours.

3. I aim to create routine for my family but am loose to criticize myself for when things change. My daughter can get sick a lot from daycare. A day where I had planned to do pickup or drop off might switch if my task list is suddenly stocked. We still try to alternate days for big family tasks but we are getting better at flexibility.

4. Spend more time in prayer. I’ve done a real messy job of it but I’m trying to pray for myself more and more while I drive from work or before I sleep. I find reading my Bible on my nook while I’m in bed at night is more effective in getting more scripture in my heart than devotionals and bible plans. It’s just not the season for those things. Anyways, here is a Christian reflection of having a peace mindset.

What’s Kept Me Quiet

I’ve been busy this past month with some big things: mainly the launch of a 12 week program called Build A Value-Based Business.

This breaks down into three months of emails, each with action items that put you to work in making your small business rooted in your values, not just your motive for profit.

Making money is important but most of us got into a side hustle or started a business because we wanted to be valued. We had a strong belief that we could improve the way things were done or made. But somewhere along the way you may have gotten lost in the administrative tasks and forgotten to look back at your structure.

This program is a result of my ten years in customer service and helping other businesses grow.

The seating is limited for those who want to join and the first semester starts May 1, 2023. Read more and sign up at www.chanelriggle.com (oh yea I made a new site!)