Well guys, would you believe that this space to stop glorifying busyness started as a hashtag. I mean does it get any more basic than that? So let me explain. One day, I was doing what I normally do and sharing all aspects of my life on social media. Basically all of my comings and goings minus what I eat. And I started to use the hashtag, #balancednotbusy. The intent was to back up a recent conversation where I had shared that I didn’t really feel busy and rather, my full plate felt balanced.

That’s it.

I just needed to share some visuals that further supported that I wasn’t one of those people that answered, “how are you doing?” with “I’m so busy.” Now fast forward to a few years later when I accepted a promotion and moved to New Orleans. I jumped right on into the “Big Easy” community, I mean it’s easy to do. I joined multiple community organizations, built fast friendships, embedded myself in cultural activities and I really took “Laissez les bons temps rouler” to the next level. I was moving and shaking and from the outside looking in, I was living my best life. Up until my hair started to fall out.

Yep, I was so stressed, frenzied, exhausted and burnt out that my hair started to fall out. And I was living a lie. There was nothing balanced about the way that I was living.

I had a heart to heart with myself and started to truly think about what it would take for me to stop being busy just for the sake of busyness. I embarked on a soul searching journey to identify my priorities. I thought long and hard about my to do list from the order of tasks to my expectations for completing each item. I gave myself permission to decline meetings, events and activities even if there was nothing else on my calendar. I ensured that my family and friends got the best version of me and not the end of day scraps. The changes were hard and necessary. The new me was on the hunt to live a life where I didn’t just survive, I wanted to thrive.

Living balanced and not busy took on a whole new meaning.

And then I moved back to Atlanta. I came back a brand new person, committed to continue to practice and scream to the mountaintops how my life challenges had positively impacted my mind and body. The first week back in Atlanta was cool, calm and collected and then things got interesting fast! I started a new job in corporate communications which included a significant amount of travel. My boyfriend turned into my fiance and we started planning our wedding. Life threw curveball after curveball in every direction. And because of it, there was a fire to scream even louder how important it is to truly live balanced not busy.

And things continued to get interesting.