I took a bit of an extended leave of absence from blogging. It wasn’t entirely intentional, but it just wasn’t feeling right to me. I was starting to be stressed out by it, and that pretty much destroys any enjoyment that might come from an activity. I was putting all kinds of pressure on myself to churn out “content,” whatever the heck that means. And so one day, I just said, “That’s enough.” I wasn’t sure whether I’d ever come back to it (although deep in my heart I knew I would, because, come on, I’ve been blogging for 15 years).

December has been busy, but mostly in the very best ways. I decided to make at least half of my holiday gifts this year, so our apartment is basically a little crafting workshop. Sean has been in Boston since Sunday night, and that means our apartment has become my sewing studio. The kitchen table has been covered in fabric, thread, scissors, measuring tape, and pattern pieces the entire time. There are bits of thread littering the floor and scraps of fabric and batting all over the place. Tiny beads have managed to make their way into all the corners. I’m hoping to have time to clean up most of the disaster zone before he gets home tonight, but there is still much making to be done.

I am LOVING it. And I’ve seen my sewing skills improve over the last month, which is deeply satisfying. I also picked up a new hobby: jewelry making. Because I don’t have enough interests already. I love jewelry making because it’s faster than sewing, so I have a finished product after one sitting. And so shiny!

I haven’t even started to holiday baking, so I think this Sunday the oven will be cranked up and the mixer will get a serious workout. I had a lot of holiday cookie ideas this year, but the truth is, my interest in things culinary isn’t as strong right now as my interest in things textile. So when I’m trying to decide what to do in my free time, the sewing machine generally wins. But I do want to have cookies to bring in for colleagues next week, so I should probably get cracking.

You’d think this feeling of obligation would be unpleasant, and I’ll admit to feeling tiny twinges of stress, but for the most part, it is really satisfying and fun. I wish I had more hours in the day, it’s true. I wish I could take next week off work and just create create create, but I can’t. I’m actually supposed to be finishing up a book manuscript that is due in early January, and perhaps I’ve been in a bit of denial about how much work should be dedicated to that project right now. What, me? Denial? What are you talking about? I don’t even know what that word means.

I want to blog again, because I miss it, I do. But there are only so many hours in the day, and at the end of it, I need to know that I’m spending them doing the things that make me feel the most fulfilled. Balance isn’t always easy to achieve, but I keep striving.

I hope the weeks leading up the holiday are fulfilling for you, and not overly stressful. Are you making things? Baking things? What does December look like in your world?