overwhelmed.

One of the things I love the most about the blog world is how open it can be. Most of the blogs I follow are written by women and I love it when they share personal stories. Personal triumphs and also when they're struggling... not because I like to hear that others are going through tough times, but because it makes these fabulous women seem more human. More relatable. Their bravery for sharing their fears and failures make the biggest impact on me.

Well, if you couldn't have guessed, I am overwhelmed with the world right now. Overwhelmed with work. Overwhelmed with e-mail. Overwhelmed with side projects. Overwhelmed with my personal constrictions on maintaining my fitness and nutritional goals. Overwhelmed with classwork (and I'm not even taking summer classes!). Just plain overwhelmed.

These are all things that I've taken on myself, mandated of myself. (It also didn't help that my hard drive crashed this past Saturday, putting me out of commission for a day until I got everything re-installed. Thankfully, I had backed up in the morning. For the first time in 6 months or so none the less. Bullet dodged.) Anyway, why do I do this? As I talk with my other girlfriends (not necessarily in the blog world), many of them feel the same way. They take on too much as well and then get overwhelmed. Is this a woman thing or are guys just better at handling stress... or hiding it?

I appreciate the work that Jess is doing at Make Under My Life, because I can relate so much. Recently she's added new totes to her shop in partnership with illustrator Ann Shen.

Kinzie Tote Collection by Jess LC and Ann Shen 

I have several illustrated posters in my head and sketched out to sum up my feelings about being overwhelmed. But, you know, it's filed under "Someday" on the teux-deux list...