A few weeks ago, I signed on to a “Girls Day In” event through an online mama writing community I’m a part of.

I felt enormous guilt doing it at first. 

Plopping my child in front of a TV so I could squeeze something in for myself. 

Something that didn’t have a tangible product at the end. 

I’m not trying to write a book. Or a creative piece. Or a poem. Those aren’t even my long-term goals.

So it felt weird to carve out space for something that wasn’t going to “give me anything” at the end. 

No first draft of anything.

No tangible steps toward publishing anything.

I don’t want any of that. 

Yet, somehow, I still feel called to carve out space in my day to write.

But because there wouldn’t be a finished product, yeah, I felt a bit guilty dedicating time to this act of writing. This active journaling session with other Mamas via Zoom. 

I think I’ve spent a lot of my life learning that you have to do X in order to get Y. You have to work out in order to lose weight. You go to events so you can meet people and grow your professional or personal network. There always needed to be a REASON attached to my action. Or an end product.

You plop your kid in front of the TV so you can attend a meeting or finish a report. 

You DON’T plop your kid in front of the TV so you can attend this Zoom meeting to journal.

At least that’s what I thought.

But in doing that exercise – and in doing more things like that over the past few weeks – I have started to realize the value of doing things JUST BECAUSE THEY SOUND GOOD TO YOU.

The value of WRITING not because I’m taking steps toward writing a book or a blog post or an article. But because writing clears my head and is a form of therapy for me. 

The value of WALKING not because I’m trying to get my steps in for the day. But because walking clears my head and is a form of therapy for me. 

The value of READING not because I’m trying to read X amount of books by the end of the year. But because it is the best way to wind down after a long day and there’s nothing I like better than curling up in bed with my Kindle. 

I don’t know why we condition ourselves to believe there needs to be a reason we do something. When it’s reason enough to simply enjoy the thing you’re doing.

If it’s bringing you joy. If it’s making your brain feel less foggy. EVEN IF THERE’S NO END PRODUCT. If you enjoy doing the thing, freaking do it. 

(P.S. The end product is a happier human).