After a couple of weeks that were peppered with appointments and large commitments, I’m trying to give myself lots of time to work and think this week.

I’m sure that seems at odds with my title of ‘Seeking Ease’ but, as I’ve explained before, being able to design my own schedule and follow it in a way that makes sense to me is very relaxing.

That holds true, even if I have a lot of work to do.

This week is not overwhelmingly busy, but I have some important tasks that I want to address.

Being able to decide when and how I will complete those tasks is much easier on my brain than fitting them in around appointments and meetings.

And, if things go well this week, I will complete two long-term projects and be able to get them out of my head.

That has its own appeal.

So, I am indeed seeking ease this week even if I’m not taking it easy.

A few years ago, I started doing my own Mother’s Day activities on a different day.

That might mean that I spend my Saturday reading and relaxing and having good snacks and then spend Mother’s Day itself celebrating my Mom and my MIL.

Or it might mean celebrating them on Mother’s Day and then having my celebrations the next weekend.

Ever since I decided on this plan, Mother’s Day has been a lot easier.

Previously, especially when my kids were small, I would be trying to cram all my fun and relaxation into the nooks and crannies of the day.

I’d end up feeling hurried and frustrated and not at all relaxed.

That is not a celebratory mood.

So, this system makes for a better day all around.

So often over the last year I have grateful for the routines that I established in March of 2023.

By the time things got difficult, they were already part of the landscape of my day.

When things got off track, I could follow my routines and then get myself in gear, at least a little.

This isn’t (and wasn’t) about the need to ‘get things done’ or the need to be productive, it was about feeling like my day had some substance, like I had some traction, like there were some fixed points.

I have spent entirely too much of my life going to bed feeling exhausted from ricocheting through my day but having no idea how I spent my time.

(ADHD can be a jerk like that)

And anything that gives me some relief from that feeling – like routines of journaling and drawing, for instance- can make all the difference.