That headline was supposed to grab you, and I hope it worked. Having a small child, a relatively new marriage, grad school, clients and an active private life on top of all of that is utterly exhausting sometimes.
All the time, if I’m prepared to be open and candid. Which opens a whole can of worms when I deal with Germans and social media.
They don’t typically like it.
Sure, you can point to Susanne Plassmann or others who have taken to it like a duck to water, but most Germans I know? Privacy is much preferred to self promotion, and they are typically sceptical of such ego-driven tomfoolery.
What does that say about me and Susanne that we like it so much? I’m just not going to go there, but I’ll simply say that she and I are more alike than you’d think. We met when I was observing a Flirting auf Deutsch class, or at least I think that’s what it was.
It was a Mother’s Day about 7 or 8 years ago, and as a result, none of her students showed up. It’s not that my German’s perfect, so I could’ve just as easily had a private lesson. Instead we did something much more fascinating.
We talked about the birds and the bees and how German and English native speakers approach and date each other.
As I’ve often said, Susanne is my favourite actor in Munich. Does it help that I know her? Sure. We’ve got history, but that doesn’t change that I can be objective, despite my subjectivity (the friendship).
Back to what I want to do, though. Because my time is much more limited these days, there are literally weeks where I don’t even tough my guitar ’til the weekend. It’s inconceivable to me that my life has come to this, but there you have it.
I’ve resolved to focus most on the things which bring me the most rewards, and I don’t mean only financial ones. While I love my work, and my school work especially, it’s not the only thing. Even when it seems like it.
A little bit of music during the week is my new goal. Check back with me in a few weeks or months and see how I’m doing. As always, comments below are welcomed.
How do you balance the different responsibilities you’ve got in life with the things that bring you the most joy? That’s not a rhetorical question. I really want to know.