014: Permission to Take a Break

One of the best gifts you can give yourself is permission to take a break. We’re often taught that consistency is the “key” to everything. But sometimes you can see the biggest benefits and personal breakthroughs from simply giving yourself time to recharge and rest.

In this episode, I talk about a break that I took this summer and why taking a break can be so challenging for most people. I give some ideas of things you might need to take a break from in your life whether it be relationships, a project you're working on, social media or anything else that is leaving you feeling drained.

You’ll also learn the 5 benefits that I discovered from taking a break and why sometimes it’s essential to take a breather, be present with your family so you can come back better than when you left.

What you’ll find in this episode:

The things you might need to take a break from
Why it’s often hard to take a break
How taking a break was the right thing for me to do
5 benefits of taking a break
Why you need to listen to your soul and your needs

Links:
5 Creative Steps to Less Stress & More Joy

Read the transcript of the episode below:

Have you ever felt bad taking a break from something in your life? Well, you may have noticed that I recently took a break. Today, we're going to talk about giving yourself permission to do that. This is episode 14, Permission to Take a Break.
Welcome to the Committed to Create Podcast. I'm Lisa Funk, and I am so excited to hang out with you here as we talk about the power of creating with our hands and our minds. I like to keep it real, remind you that you are not alone and share specific ways that creativity and mindfulness can help us live even more meaningful and joyful lives. I am so glad that you're here.
My friends, and welcome back to the podcast. I am so glad to be back. You may or may not have noticed that I took an unintentional break for the past several weeks from releasing new episodes on the podcast. I also took a break from posting on Instagram, sending email newsletters, and none of this was planned ahead of time. And that is what has inspired the topic for today. 
But first of all, I just wanted to say hi, and I'm so glad that we're back. And my big blue couch is still here. And I'm so glad that you have come over to my house to plop down on the couch, let go of some of the things that you might be worried about today or stressed about, and just take a moment to talk about real life and have some real life conversations. 
So I want to talk a little bit today about taking a break from something. And obviously I took a break from posting online and releasing episodes of the podcast. I want you to think about what it might be for you. What is something that you have taken a break from in the past or something that you might be feeling right now that you need a break from?
What are those things that we sometimes need a break from? It might be a habit. It might be a certain way that we're eating or exercising, or when we're trying to, maybe you read something every day. Or it could also be a type of break that we need from a relationship or from something that we're attending or doing in our lives. It could be so many different things. And I'd actually be really curious what comes up for you. 
So after you listened to this or while you're listening, I would love it, if you wanted to send me a DM or let me know in a review, what is it for you that you have needed to take a break from? Or maybe right now feel the pull to take a break from.
So I'm going to tell you a little bit about my experience this summer and what prompted me to take a break and how I felt about it compared to how I would have addressed this and felt about it in the past. And before I tell you what happened that prompted my break this summer. I just wanted to kind of give this background this basis for why I'm bringing this up because we are often taught and we often hear that consistency is the key to everything and that we can't miss a day and that we need to be consistent above all else.
And I think that's great. I think we can make a lot of progress in our lives when we have consistent habits. And I think it's great not to give up on things, but sometimes we have to remember that we are human and that life happens and that it's okay to take a break. It's more than okay to take a break.
But even though we might believe this, when it comes time to take a break, it's often hard. And even if it feels like the right thing to do, we often feel bad about it. And I would like today in this podcast episode, to give you permission to allow you to give yourself permission to take a break and to not feel bad about it, to not feel that it's the wrong thing to do, or if you were stronger, you would keep going.
I want you to believe that it's often the very right thing to do to take a break and that it doesn't mean that you're not a good person or that you're not as strong or that you're not going to grow and progress into who you want to be. I want you to know that often taking a break is creating the exact situation and person that you want to be.
I want to be a person who listens to my needs and my family's needs, and that can adjust accordingly. I do not want to be a robot. That is like the easiest way to say that, that I am not going to continue to do things robotically, just because I've heard that it's important to not miss a day or not miss a week, or that it's important to be consistent.
I am going to listen to my heart, to my soul, and I am going to pay attention so that I can take care of myself and take care of my family. 
So getting back to this summer, we were traveling with our family. We bought the quintessential 2020 purchase of a travel trailer, which I know I've already mentioned on earlier podcasts.
And we were having a great trip. We had a few more stops planned where we wanted to camp. And we got the news that my mother-in-law was really sick. And then a few days later we found out that indeed she was sicker than we realized she was getting sicker and that she was going to be going into hospice care. And we knew immediately that, of course our plans were going to change and we were going to be getting back home as soon as possible. 
Now I will say that in general, I am pretty consistent with the podcast. Well, okay. I just started the podcast earlier this summer, but I haven't missed a week of doing the podcast, or I hadn't missed a week of doing the podcast up until that point.
And I post pretty frequently on Instagram and I'm pretty consistent with my business. I have had this for almost six years, and I have fairly consistent, although I have taken breaks a few times, which I will talk about, and I think that that's okay, but in general, it's not something that's willy nilly for me. It's something that I do love and enjoy and I care about, and I do try to be consistent with it. And so it's not something that I take lightly to just show up or not show up or do it, or don't do it. I do think about it. And when all of this happened and we started to make our trip home and when I realized what was happening, I knew that I wanted to be completely present for myself and for my family and for my husband. And I knew that when I really listened to myself and to my like inner voice, the one that I like, the nice one, not the  mean inner voice, the one that I can trust, I knew that I wanted to take a break. 
I didn't want to have the pressure of like making sure I recorded a new podcast and got it out on time and did all these other things. I love doing the podcast. It's not something I feel pressured to do normally, but during a really intense, emotional time, I knew that I wanted to have all of my focus be on my family and what we needed at that time. 
And so I decided to take a break. From posting on Instagram, from recording and releasing new episodes of the podcast and anything honestly to do with my business. I knew that taking that time to be present with my family was exactly what I needed and what my family needed. 
So while I may have taken a break from recording and releasing podcasts and doing some of these other things, it's not like I took a break from my entire life. I don't think that that's like normally very possible for most of us. I was definitely very engaged with what was going on and my mother-in-law did pass away. And then we were able to honor her life and celebrate her life with a funeral, a very small funeral with family.
And it was very unusual and different from what we might have expected in other times, but we really took that time to celebrate her and to focus on her life. And it was so special. And I'm just so glad that I listened to myself and allowed myself all of that time to process and be present. And it was a really tender time for me and for my family.
And I think in the past, I might have given myself that break, but I can imagine when I used to have a stronger negative voice, you guys, for so many years, I just had this negative voice. And of course it still comes up, but boy, back then it was intense, and it would find any reason to make me feel bad. And so if I had taken a break, even in the same situation years ago, I could still imagine that voice telling me things like you really should stay consistent. No, one's going to listen to the podcast anymore. If you don't keep recording, you know, consistency is key. And you got to keep showing up no matter what, and you should have already prerecorded a bunch of episodes to be prepared for something like this. I mean, I just can imagine that in the past, that negative voice was so good, so good at its job showing up and really allowing me to spiral into feeling bad when I would listen to it and take hold of those negative thoughts that it would offer.
And right around the time of the funeral was when my kids were starting virtual school. Which, if any of you have experienced trying to do virtual school, especially at the beginning, you may know that it's not exactly a walk in the park. So we had that happening. 
Also it's August in Arizona, which is a challenge for me. I know I chose to live here. It's okay. I make it through, but it's super hot, and some of my regular things that I do to be outside and walking in the mornings are just harder because it's so dang hot. 
So all of these things kind of are combining together. And my break that I took just kind of continued while I continued to focus on my kids on my mental health, on my family, making sure that we were making it through this adjustment with school and everything that's been going on.
All that, to say that taking a break was the right thing for me at the time. Was the right thing for my family. And I'm just grateful that I gave myself the permission to do it, and I didn't feel bad. And I also didn't believe any of the lies that because I wasn't being super consistent with the podcast with Instagram, that anything was going to change or fall apart or not work out.
I believe that everything is going to work out exactly the way it's supposed to, because what is the point in believing anything else? I mean, seriously, why would I believe that I missed my chance and everything's going to be ruined now. It's not because I'm human and you're human. And we are here to show up for each other.
And I also have taken multiple breaks in the past. And I have found that there are some amazing benefits from taking a break. Okay. 
So I'm going to share five benefits with you that I have found from taking a break. 
Number one is that you avoid burnout. When you just continue to go and go and go, no matter what it is, it's so easy to burn out, be completely overwhelmed, and then you have to take a break that you weren't planning on anyway. So. I think it's really wise to take breaks. And a lot of times you can plan breaks in ahead of time because you know that it's helpful to take a break, but like what happened with me, of course, there are certain things that happen in life, circumstances that come up where you decide, you know what, I'm going to take a break. And that is totally fine. 
The second thing that is great about taking a break, a benefit is that you take the time to reevaluate your energy and your direction. So for me, even though I wasn't planning on taking a break, it gave me the chance to think about what I'm doing with the podcast, what I'm doing on Instagram and how do I want to use my energy and what direction that I want to go in and evaluate it and maybe make some changes.
Number three, is that you rekindle your passion. For me, when I take a break from something, it helps me to really realize how much I miss it, how much I like it, how excited I am to get back to it. And if you don't rekindle it, if you don't feel it, maybe that is a little bit of a signal that it might not be the right thing.
It might not be the thing that you want to go forward. That may not necessarily be the case, but for me, I really love the podcast. I love talking about the intersection of creativity and mindfulness and using creativity as a tool, as a type of therapy as a mental health tool in your life. And I knew that I was excited to get back to that and taking a break helped me to rekindle that passion. 
Number four is to recharge your batteries. Sometimes you just need to have time to build up that energy again, to get that motivation and gather that energy and that passion and that motivation to accomplish the things that you are excited about in your life. 
The fifth benefit that I'm sharing today about taking a break is to take the pressure off. It's so easy when you are doing something, and I'm not just talking about a business! Of course, I'm sharing with you my experience from taking a break from business stuff this summer, but this could relate to anything in your life, is to take the pressure off. 
Sometimes when we're super consistent about something, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves and we think other people are also putting pressure on us because maybe we've told them that we're going to exercise a certain way or keep up with a certain habit or whatever it might be. Giving ourselves a little bit of a break gives us a little bit of permission as well to take the pressure off. And like I said, a number two, reevaluate. Is this something that we are enjoying? Is this the direction that we want to go? Is this where we want to keep putting our energy? Because often we just get in this cycle of consistency, but what if you're in a cycle of consistency and something that you don't like, what have you heard in a cycle of consistency of something that you don't want to focus on? 
We hear people preaching consistency and the power of showing up every day and not missing a day. That's great, if it's something you want to do. But often we're mindlessly stuck in these cycles, or we might be consistent in something, but there's nothing to be proud of if you're being consistent in something that you don't care about.
Seriously. So don't just be consistent for consistency's sake. Taking a break can help you reevaluate if it's something you want to continue doing, if it's something that you're still passionate about and it can help you recharge and get that energy and that excitement back to be able to continue on.
Because for me, I know that sharing this message about mental health and helping other people not feel alone in their struggles and helping to share tools that have helped me and bless my life like that is something that I don't want to burn out on. That's something that I don't want to give up on.
And I've been doing it for almost six years and I don't want to stop. And so I have to take breaks and give myself that permission to relax and come back. So that I can keep going so that I can keep sharing and get excited again and get passionate again about what it is that I'm doing. 
And like I said, for this summer, it isn't something that I planned. I was planning to continue releasing podcasts every week, but life happened and life is important. 
Now, when I took a break, I didn't take a break from everything. I don't think it's possible to take a break from everything in your life, although doesn't that sound nice? I mean, I'm all about taking a few days to go on vacation or, or relax or whatever it might be.
But for me, I was still very present in my life and with my family and taking care of everything that was going on. And I kept creating, I had my iPad with me and I had my apple pencil and I was lettering and drawing and it felt really good to create, but I wasn't creating from a place of pressure or needing to keep up with anything, because that just wasn't the space that I was in at the time.
And I'm not saying that it's not good to be consistent and to share and to have a plan. That's so great. But for me at the time, I needed to create as a way to heal, as a way to feel my feelings. I spent some time creating a lettering piece where I was lettering all the beautiful things about my mother-in-law, that I just love so much and who she was to me and all of the things that she loved.
And it was just organic. It was this, I dunno, is this lettering piece of art. That for me, helps me to think about her and honor her. And it was creative and healing and beautiful. So it's not like I took a break from creating altogether, but I wasn't expecting myself to produce in certain ways. So there wasn't that same pressure, but the pressure really does come from us.
Even when we believe that it's coming from outside voices, we get to decide what those outside voices mean. We get to decide if we allow those words and those sayings to pressure us. When we hear someone say, don't miss, don't mess up your streak, stick with it. Don't quit, whatever it is, we get to decide how we interpret that voice, how much we hold on to it.
What we decide is right for us, we can decide that we want to ease that voice, that we want to release expectations for a minute. We want to take a break and come back renewed that we want to listen to what we need to, what our bodies need, to what our souls need, to what our families need, that we want to take care of ourselves, and that we want to breathe to take a moment to breathe.
You will find plenty of voices out there that are going to tell you how important it is to stay consistent, to never quit, stick with things every single day, no matter what. And I am not one of those voices. I am not here to be the voice of push yourself. Go harder, never miss a day. If those words inspire you, then stick with it.
But I'm guessing that if you're here, then you might be a little bit more like me. You might need to make sure that you're being gentle with yourself. And I want you to know that your life can still be incredibly amazing when you take breaks and take care of yourself. 
Now, your break won't do much for you if you're still holding on to that negative voice. Like I mentioned in the past, if I were to have allowed myself a break, I might've still kind of felt the pressure and had that negative voice that I'd hold on to and believe that I was taking a break. But if it felt kind of felt kind of guilty taking a break.
I don't do that anymore. And I don't want you to take a break if you're just going to beat yourself up the whole time that you're taking a break. I want you to truly give yourself permission to take a break and believe that sometimes when we do that, or when we do believe that that's the right thing, that it is the right thing, and that it's a beautiful thing and that it will help us to be the person we want to be. 
Taking a break isn't keeping us from who we want to be. Taking a break and having compassion for ourselves and giving ourselves that permission to rest and re-evaluate and recharge, that  is who we want to be. We don't want to be robots who continue in consistency, no matter what we want to be kind to ourselves. We want to understand what our needs are and give ourselves permission to take a break when it's the right thing to do.
Now I know that I am a sensitive soul and I need to  listen to my soul and to my needs. And I am so grateful that I gave myself the permission to do that this summer and to be really present with myself and with my family and prepare to come back to this space here, to record and release podcasts and come on to Instagram when I was really ready to share and to give and to connect with you.
And you're going to see other people online who are still going to tell you that they're perfectly consistent and that they don't ever miss and they don't ever take breaks. And I'm just going to tell you, that's not me. I am human. This is a space for humans and I am here to help you find relief. Relief from the negative voice inside your head that tells you that you need to be perfect and never take a break and never miss.
And I'm here to help you to find relief from the negative voices, not just in your own head, but the voices that you hear around you that you might be allowing in, that you might be holding on to. I want you to take care of yourself through physical self-care, creative self care, emotional and spiritual self-care.
And sometimes that means taking a break. It might be a break from any number of different things. It might be a mental break. People on the outside might not even realize you're taking a break from something, but I want you to allow yourself to be human, to be kind to yourself, to take the time to avoid burnout.
To reevaluate your energy and your direction. To rekindle your passion, to recharge your batteries and to take the pressure off. This is not a race. There is no race. There is no finish line for anything. For a healthy lifestyle, for growing a business, for having certain daily habits. This is not a competition.
What I want more than anything for you is to learn how to listen to yourself and to what you really need to take care of yourself with confidence and with compassion. And I want you to have permission to take a break when it's the right thing for you to do. 
I hope that this podcast has been helpful. I didn't realize I was going to go on a little bit of a soapbox about it, but I just, I love you. I know that. Are human and you're here with me and we're both imperfect and normal. Okay? 
When I say imperfect, I mean, we're not robots. That's what I mean. I don't mean it as a negative thing at all. We are beautifully human and exactly who we're supposed to be, and we're not doing anything wrong. Okay.
We're doing it right when we need to take care of ourselves and do things differently. There's everything right about that.
Thank you so much for being here. If you are interested in doing a little exercise to help you become more present in creative ways, I created something for you and I want you to check it out and I would love to hear what you think about it.
It's a video and a download. So you just download the guide. And then you can watch the video that kind of walks you through how to do it. It's called five creative steps to less stress and more joy, and you can find it at committedtocreate.com. 
I love hearing what you think about the podcast when you leave reviews and when you post about it in your stories on Instagram, if you do that, be sure to tag me at hand lettered design, I would love to hear what you think about the podcast, if you have taken breaks, if you feel the need to take a break and hopefully you you'll give yourself permission to do that. 
And if you are interested in trying out lettering as a way to find a creative outlet and a fun stress reliever, head over to handlettereddesign.com. You can also link to it from the podcast page at committed to create.com. Find some lettering goodies. I know that you will have fun and have a great way to relax and distress. 
I am so glad that you're here and I can't wait to talk to you next week.

Ready for a fun activity to feel less stress? Come get our FREE Guide - 5 Creative Steps to Less Stress & More Joy while it's still available!

I hope that my podcast has left you feeling inspired and excited to create the life that you want. If you’ve enjoyed listening to this podcast, I’d love for you to subscribe so you can continue to hear more. Want to get to know me better? Connect with me on my website or on Instagram to keep up with everything that is going on with me and my business.

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Jennifer L. IN LOVE!! What a perfect idea! I am a plant mama too, like Lisa. I also manage a great deal of anxiety. I got into lettering a couple years ago as a creative outlet and discovered a multitude of treasures in the lettering community! This book that Lisa created with her daughter is just perfection! It's all the feels for me! Thank you both!!!
Cinthanie C. EXCELLENT BOOK! I really enjoy taking a minute each day to slow down and apply my hand to something that is not only emotionally supportive but relaxing and fun to do!! The mantras for everyday are very helpful for me. Thank you for your work and bringing such a high quality product into my life!

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014: Permission to Take a Break

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