You can do anything, but you can't do everything
The subtle art of ACTUALLY doing a f*ck (and I mean it, just one)
Well, if you opened this newsletter/blog/daily escape article, you’ve landed on a blog that is not the average pep talk to work your ass off, be in your girl boss energy, and exhaust your energy every single week. Na-ah. This is not that. This is a small personal memoir of my experience as the female non-stop doer, almost reaching 26 years on Planet Earth (what a fucking privilege).
I don’t know what it is, but I find myself every day, every week, every second, feeling like I need more time. It’s like, 24 hours ain’t enough, do you feel me? I wake up, do my stretching, workout, take a sip of my coffee, and suddenly, I find myself writing at 21:41 without understanding what the hell happened with the day that’s already behind me. Life, feels too quick. Overwhelmingly quick. And the funny thing is, most people around me are living such a chill life, having all this free time, and some are not doing much with it. I am JEALOUS. I crave more time. And, listen. It’s not like I don’t use it. Quite the opposite (and here’s where I'm sure you’ll get me). I PACK MY FREAKING CALENDAR with all you can imagine.
Workouts 5 times a week
Work 40 hours a week
Italian twice a week
Enjoying city life with the most fabulous company
Personal finances
Writing
Instagram project
Chilling
Therapy
Arranging next travels
Connecting with family and friends from Colombia
Sleep (cause the absurdity above is only possible thanks to it).
I’ve been wondering if it’s absurd to have such an ambitious lifestyle. Trying to juggle through everyday life, responsibilities, dreams, and giving the exact same energy to all of them.
IS IT UNPRODUCTIVE TO WANT IT ALL AT THE SAME TIME?
I’m not sure what it is, but I am someone who needs to do every. single. thing.
at the same time
and it’s
e x h a u s t i n g
I love the life I have in Rome, but it’s hella intense. There’s the Colombian “BOLEO” here, as we call it. The non-stop everything. And yeah, they say Italy is la dolce vita (the sweetness of doing nothing), the slow living, and yes, it’s true, but I missed the train (apparently)? I don’t think I’m cut out for the incredibly slow everything.
And that’s where things get tricky.
I want to write, I want to create art, I want to speak Italian incredibly, I want to have a fabulous life in Italy, and above all that, I want to feel good and work full-time. JUEPUTA! That’s quite some pressure I’m putting on myself. And I know if you’ve read this far, you’re probably also one of those girlies who want to have it all. Disclaimer? After 8 years of doing things this way, I have the empirical evidence of my own life to conclude: It’s NOT possible. Uh, I know, I know.
But now that I know, and you know, and we know, we can say it out loud:
I CAN DO ANYTHING, BUT I CAN’T DO EVERYTHING
I’ve been juggling with the everything for some months now, and even though I am taking all my life forward, progress is small (but constant) across all the areas of life I want to succeed in.. But — and that’s a big but — the progress, the progress is very small for each, and that’s where I wonder.
Am I being counterproductive? How about I find my one or two big things and set boundaries to focus on them, pushing them forward, pushing the real dreams?
Some things are nice to have. The Italian, for me, is a nice-to-have. The pottery class is nice to have. The active social life is a nice-to-have. But listen deeply. What is that thing that actually moves your soul? The thing that moves your inner fibers? Don’t think too much about it—feel it within, you have all the answers.
Once you find your nice-to-haves, you’ll be closer to your dreams. Your dreams are not nice to have. Your dreams are your big why. The why you get out of bed, the why you keep doing that thing you’re doing even when you don’t have the time.
There’s one or two things, perhaps, that you feel upset cause you don’t have enough time to do.
There are one or two things that many people around you challenge you with, telling you it’s not the right decision.
IT FUCKING IS!
That’s your why, baby.
Find it. Find your nice-to-haves, and start trading off. Oh, the hell with social life five times a week. Maybe I can change it to three times a week. The hell with long work hours. Maybe I can set stronger boundaries at work. The hell with alcohol consumption. Maybe my mornings are sacred for my creation.
I decide today to stop wanting to have it all.
I decide today to get out of the patriarchal box of needing to overachieve.
I decide to follow my why and find the time for it.
I decide to be a creator.
What
do
you
decide?