Dear Rose # 71 - Productive Grief: Why We Can't "To-Do" Our Way Out of Hard Times

Rose is an amalgam of us - women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond who are looking for somewhere they are seen, heard and listened to.

Dear Rose,

Yesterday, I opened an app I started using last year to keep lists. I haven’t opened it in months, and I was shocked to see the titles of what I tried to keep track of back then:

•  Ideas and brain dumps

•  Weekly marketing checklist

•  Daily income tracker

•  Monthly income tracker (not sure why I needed both)

•  Housesitting calendar

•  Knee rescue plan

•  Future project log

•  Class planner

This is truly a small sample of what I was tracking.

It was like I was trying to “to do” my way out of grief, injury, uncertainty, and new beginnings.

Part of me feels so sad for putting myself through that, and the bigger part of me knows I was just trying to survive. Maybe future me will think I’ve squandered this year with my insistence on slow mornings and fish tank gazing, but I think all I'm doing is redressing the balance.

Love,

Em xx