Truthy Tuesday: How Many Hats Is TOO Many?

Wearing a lot of hats is something that I’ve done for most of my life.

When I was in college I worked between 2 and 3 part-time jobs to stay afloat and then once I got my first job, I was managing a group home, carrying a pager and working close to 24/7.

Most of the time the fact that I worked so much didn’t really bother me, but now, years later, I can say that all of that crazy hard work prepared me to be a small business person- I was schooled at a young age at the art of wearing many hats.

I’m used to have many, many hats on my head- working long hours, probably longer hours than many people could tolerate and I’ve never really batted an eye about it until recently.

I’m about to admit something that even a year ago I doubt I could have said about myself, but it’s true today.

I want to wear less hats and I’m still routing through my proverbial hats to make sure I actually want to wear all those that have been living on my head now for some time.

In the last year or so I’ve been so busy, so often that I’ve felt that I wasn’t able to fully give myself to anything. I was feeling upside-down in my own busyness.

Between the demands in my work life, various projects, tons of deadlines, personal-life busyness: being the mom of a 12 year old, a wife and trying to maintain friendships, my days would be so jam-packed that sometimes I’d just yearn for some time to myself, which is how I ended up here, now.

I’ve taken a few things off my plate so my schedule isn’t as busy as it was and I’m loving it! I’m loving having extra time to myself to do hobbies and believe you me, have I got hobbies.

Currently, I’m working on a knitting project, teaching myself to play banjo, learning new recipes, reading 3 books and I sewed most of my Halloween costume last week. Left to my own devices the chances are high I’ll have another hobby soon that I don’t even know about at this moment. I have been pinching myself and saying, “Who’s life is this anyway?” Then reminding myself, “Hey you, this is YOUR life!”

“For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.”
–Lily Tomlin

I almost feel guilty for the privilege of getting to do what I want and having a reasonable work schedule, which I think is due to the fact that I’ve never had such a reasonable life before- one with such great work and so much downtime combined. Like I said, I almost feel guilty, but then I remind myself how hard I’ve worked to get here and then I’m back to loving my hobbies, guilt-free.

The thing that I’m starting to feel is that there’s a time and a place for busting your hump. I’m sure I’ll bust mine again in the future, but there’s also something awesome to having less to manage, so that you can have more time for your interests and passions.

For now, I’m takin’ it easy- like Sunday mornin’. I’m breathing, thinking, and experimenting with my skills. I’m growing and just being and it feels like it’s the perfect place for me to be. As I slow down and listen to what my mind and body is saying, I’m hearing new ideas percolating within me.

My mind is saying that I should be doing more with music because it really matters to me- I’ve never heard this call so strongly before. My mind is also saying that storytelling is really important to me and that I need to develop this skill further, using my people skills and organization skills to help others tell their own story and that I should probably record all of this.

“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going to fast-you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”
–Eddie Cantor

I won’t get into the details of these ideas today, because it’s not really about what my mind is telling me, it’s more that when you slow down you can hear and see things that matter to you in a clearer way.

There’s an intuitive wisdom within all of us, we know what we want and need, but sometimes we are too busy to hear what we’re saying to ourselves.

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Check out Jena’s post about how she wears many hats without getting overwhelmed!

Gillian from Craftzilla Conquers the World talks about lots of hats and good intentions

Share your thoughts/tips/struggles around wearing many hats on your blog too, and we’ll post a link right here for our readers to check out!

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How about you? How are the hats you’re wearing fitting your head? Is it time to consider changing out one of your hats? Or removing one or two all together? Maybe your hats fit perfectly- let us know in the comments below!

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