Work I love. Boundaries I Mean.
Always open, sometimes here.
Working from anywhere sounds like a dream. And honestly, some days it is. But it took me a while to figure out how to do it in a way that didn’t drain me or creep into the parts of life I’m not willing to miss.
I love this work. I want it around. I like talking about it. I like thinking about it. But that doesn’t mean it gets to run my whole day or show up when I’m snuggling with my kids. I used to feel guilty for working while they played. Or answering messages on a Sunday. But also guilty when I didn’t. Guilt either way doesn’t work.
What I know now is this… this work is one of the loves of my life. And like anything I love, it needs boundaries. Not because it’s a problem. Because I want to keep loving it.
So I stopped chasing balance and started listening to myself. And the phrase that stuck is this:
Always open, sometimes here.
My ideas are always open. My door is sometimes open. My energy is protected, because I want to keep loving this. And part of that for me, I don’t write away messages anymore. I don’t post when I’m taking a break. I don’t draft out-of-office replies.
Not because I’m too cool for it. Not because I don’t care. But because I’ve stopped feeling the need to narrate every pause to prove I’m allowed to take it.
I used to think people needed to know where I was. Now I trust they’ll still be here. And more importantly, so will I.
I’ve figured out how to work from anywhere without letting work follow me everywhere.
And if you’re in that flexible work crowd, the one where we love what we do but don’t want it swallowing the rest of our lives….this part’s for you, from me ☀️
It’s okay to care deeply about your work and still say not right now.
It’s okay to want your work close by, but not in your lap every second.
You don’t need to earn your pause. You just need to mean it.
