When Your Full Plate Takes You Away From Medium

Managing expectations works in all directions.

Image: Charles Koh on Unsplash

Listening is the beginning of understanding.
~ Anonymous

Medium has been put on the back burner.

I’m ok with this, but I realize others may wonder what’s been going on. For those who have connected with me outside of the platform, you have a little bit of an idea of where my energies have been focused.

For the rest of you (and for those who might not understand), read on for a taste of my life these days.

On Returning Home

Much of 2022 was spent acclimating to a new country — returning home to Borikén was (is) a big deal. Though I was neither born nor grew up here, it is the land of my ancestors 7 generations back.

And though some might argue that as a U.S. territory, I technically never left the states, my perspective is a different one. To avoid getting into the politics of it all, I’ll simply say that Borikén (our Indigenous name) is indeed a magical [albeit, imperfect] place.

You can read about my decision to return home here:

35 Countries Later, I Stopped Traveling

Adjusting to the pace of life, a somewhat fractured infrastructure, the climate (and relentless mosquitoes), and a bunch more has at times proven difficult.

Still, I have zero regrets because here I’ve connected with my Mother Land, forged supportive alliances, begun offering free community yoga sessions, and participated in social justice activism on numerous fronts.

There’s a bunch of stuff I still need to figure out (e.g., purchasing a vehicle, registering to vote, locating a primary care physician). I keep reminding myself to go at my pace and focus on small wins.

An Overflowing Plate

During the first week of December, I decided to go full steam ahead with my copywriting entrepreneurial initiative, Lola’s Lines. It’s something that had been on my mind for several months.

Fear kept me from going for it.

Until I realized (and with reminders from Medium supporters), I could use that F-word to my advantage. So, after researching hosting providers, and costs, I selected Dreamhost, securing my domain name plus the server.

That was on December 4, 2022.

This is what my plate looked like back then (some of it is ongoing):

1. Working on my first chapbook (poetry is my first love)
2. Community yoga outreach
3. Supporting a close friend dealing with major health issues
4. Pitching story ideas to various Latina-focused magazines
5. Getting published in Australia (this was/is a huge deal)
6. Building my Gumroad presence (0 sales so far)
7. Being onboarded as a writer/Cultural Content Creative with HER Adventures, an ‘inclusive, sustainable, empowering travel resource for women’
8. Dealing with having my poetry published for the first time, then being bullied by the editor and having my work removed from their site 😤
9. Creating my website (just completed yesterday!) 🍾
10. Increased focus on enhanced LinkedIn & Twitter presence

All of this has been while continually dealing with bouts of depression.

So yes, I will toot my own horn.

The holidays are a difficult time for me. And here in Borikén, it’s a very long season (lasting around 45 days!). I stopped celebrating Christmas in 2007, and Thanksgiving in 2014. Folks here are, generally speaking, quite religious — for me that topic is a difficult one because my philosophy is simple.

I believe people should act according to their sense of humanity — that is to say, they should be productive members of society, help their neighbors, and be kind to animals.

This is how I live my life.

So while I respect what others hold as religious beliefs, I am outspoken when they insist on pushing their indoctrination my way. Not having it, period, the end.

Enough said there!

When I consider everything that has been (and some remains) on my plate, I’m excited at all I’ve accomplished, especially during a time when my mental health has been less than optimal.

I’ve been hella productive and I’m thrilled about it.

Reflections

Have I been absent for a long time? Perhaps…it’s relative, depending on what one considers ‘long.’ Could I have dedicated more time to the platform? Not without sacrificing my other priorities. And that’s where the operative word is worth highlighting.

Priorities.

My focus has been elsewhere — intentionally. I simply chose where to set my attention and the rest would go on the ‘back burner.’ Medium was one of them.

I realized that I needed to manage my own expectations. In deciding to not spend much time on the platform, I was choosing where to set my priorities. I’m also learning I’m not responsible for the expectations that others set.

Thanks for reading. If you’re interested, you can check me out here:

Welcome - Lola's Lines

Note: yes, I realize the image needs adjusting (I never claimed to be perfect!)

Shout out to Francine Fallara for offering this safe space to share vulnerabilities, and for being supportive of mental health concerns. ✨