I went on an unplanned hiatus
They say you only control a maximum of 10% in your day to day... I guess I'm living proof!
Oops it’s been awhile: a confession
Just over a year ago I published an exciting update celebrating one year of publishing on Substack. Business was going great. I had exciting opportunities, I was motivated, interested and eager to be of service in my field. I’d begun writing a book, I had fulfilling work on the calendar, and exciting improv opportunities to boot!
Then it all unraveled, slowly at first, until my life was like a cartoon snowball… large tangled and seemingly out of control.
If this post was titled “Second Year Update on my Substack Activity” it would be one sentence long: I haven’t written anything in over a year.
Instead this post reads like a game of Fortunately/Unfortunately.
(If you like to get into the details of peoples personal lives keep reading! If you want to just get to the juicy takeaways, feel free to skip to the end…)
First, I was having tons of fun traveling for improv stuff, and delivering exciting client work. So I put writing on a back burner so I wouldn’t spread myself too thin.
Then, my husband and I left the theatre where we had been performing locally for the last decade. Their questionable ethics did not align with our values. Like any breakup, this took an emotional toll and I struggled to focus.
I knew I would get back to it before year’s end, when I planned to put out traditional holiday and New Years goal related content, but then I started having health stuff crop up, and in attending to that, I told myself writing would have to wait just a little longer. In the meantime, there was more fun ahead to enjoy… which I told myself would make for excellent future newsletter content.
But in early February, I had a few clients cancel abruptly as they anticipated the effects our new President might have on the economy and the types of programs that my clients were running.
My husband and I attended Impro Amsterdam and I was grateful. After two morale hits in a row, this had been exactly what I needed. I returned feeling upbeat, and inspired. But there were more surprises in store.
As I was sitting down to write my first post of the year… already toward the end of February, I discovered my mom was the victim of fraud (there will be a post about this in the future. I learned some really helpful things worth sharing through the experience). For the rest of that month and a significant part of March, trying to stop the scammer from further theft, and help my mother recover her identity and her financial losses became my full time job. Writing would have to wait.
I developed frozen shoulder. And sitting at the computer became physically painful. For those of you who have been through it, you know — pain is exhausting. So writing needed to wait for me to attend to physical therapy and my health overall.
Speaking of health, my mother began developing some truly scary health symptoms, and I was now accompanying her to medical appointments, and advocating for her to get to see a neurologist, while trying to manage her stress to prevent further damage…. meanwhile treading water with my own health and life balance.
I was exhausted, I was sad, I was frustrated, I was in pain… and I was worried about work taking a back burner while I spent more time on my health, and my mother’s increasing challenges.
But of course, I brushed those stress-ball feelings away because the cool improv-related travel opportunities were still rolling in! Since my last published post my I’ve traveled to nearly a dozen cities, and attended at least 9 festivals which include Emerald City Comic Con, the Bay Area Musical Improv Fest, and Impro Amsterdam (my husband and I have three more festivals lined up before the year is over too).
If the past year was a country song, I think it would go like this:
[chorus] 24/25 what a surprise, had no idea what was in store Thought I couldn’t take it, so took a tiny break yeah, Then 2025 ...you broke me even more! August through October All is good, nothing's a bother Doin' shows and feeling funny Doing work and making money busy, busy, opportunity galore November, December I can hardly remember I said goodbye to my ol' improv home I was tired, not retired, but took a break to "plan for days ahead" [Chorus] More time off for teachin' High School, Miami Fest was super cool, Impro Amsterdam as happy as can be! Get off the bike, get off the plane the next part would be insane for me Shoulder hurts I just can't sleep My mama's scammed by a creep My clients quit cuz they're scared of 47 Doctor, doctor what's the News? I'm becoming quite a sleuth [Chorus] [Take it to the bridge!] Frozen shoulder, writers block, Amsterdam, Rhode Island, Miami n' Chicago Mama gets a scan of brain and spine My short break got too long But then it got much longer 25, when will the madness end? [Chorus, everybody sing along!]
Is my hiatus over?
I sure hope so.
Just because I’m writing now, doesn’t mean life has calmed down or surrendered to my wishes. But I am at a stage of life where waiting for things to calm down might not be the right solution.
Fortunately my frozen shoulder does seem like it’s finally resolving, and my health worries seem to be well in hand now too. These are the main things I needed resolved to regain some focus and energy.
I’ll also share though that two weeks ago, my mother’s neurologist dealt us a devastating blow, and all my recent attention has been devoted to making sure she has a care team and that her needs are met. The care team is slowly forming, and my mother and I are navigating what it means to be balanced in these new circumstances. I may share more about what is happening later, but her permission would be required.
Before I close out this confessional, I’d like to share what this period of time has taught me.
Lessons from my unplanned hiatus
“Life is what happens when you’re making other plans” - Allen Saunders/John Lennon
The flexibility that serves me as an improviser was, and is, essential to surviving this particularly turbulent time period. I am so very grateful for my improvisers ethos. While I am not immune to feeling down, distraught, and beat up by life, my training in quick pivots and buoyancy are certainly a saving grace right now.
In order to move forward from my own bumpy road I’ve adopted the following short pep talk for myself:
I forgive myself for dropping the ball on certain projects while I juggled other obligations, health needs and burn out
I let go of the need to be perfect
I am excited for what the future holds and ready to receive inspiration, opportunity and miracles!
If you find this helpful feel free to steal this pep talk for yourself. Write it on a post it note and put it on your desk, convert it to a prayer and speak it to the universe, or simply read it here and breath.
Have you experienced burn out, or gone on an unplanned hiatus?
What did you do to break through, shake things up and redirect your focus? You can share your experience as a comment, or feel free to send me a message directly.