While the title of this post is “Knowing how to quit while you are ahead,” the truth is, im not very good at it at all. I’m the kind of person who is 100 miles an hour 100% of the time… until I hit a wall. I used to blame this wall on my chronic pain, and often at times, my PTSD. That it was because of these “shortcomings” that I couldn’t do everything always constantly. But lately, I am starting to truly accept that it is just… human. Normal. There are so many people just like me that get all excited about doing ALL THE THINGS but have to face the reality that there just isn’t always enough time. Enough energy. That there will be things that get in the way.
30 Days of Halloween Recap
Even with this acceptance starting to take root, I still embarked on this crazy month doing 30 days of Halloween. I don’t regret it for one second. I had so much fun planning these posts, researching ideas, determining how to do it, and hunting out great deals. It was a great exercise in writing daily, which was so incredibly invigorating. I absolutely hit and even exceeded my original goals, posting seven costumes (goal was four), five makeup tutorials (with full video), nine Halloween decor ideas, including a full on Nightmare Before Christmas themed party, and six fun Halloween food ideas. In total, I did in fact post 31 Halloween posts within the month of October (including the Jack Skellington Cake on Sept 30), with a total of 34 posts up. This took some WORK and damned if I’m not proud of every project, every costume, every video, every post.
And yet, in my last week, I felt like I was failing. That I didn’t get enough done. I still have a few projects that were completed and just not written up, or that were pulled together on Halloween day. I did give myself the allowance that I would have to simply post some of these after the fact, there just wasn’t enough time left to physically complete it. Yet, even so, I was putting an incredible amount of pressure on myself to get it done, and make it perfect.
This was especially so with my last two costumes, The Queen of Hearts, and Cheshire Cat (coming soon eventually!). The Queen of Hearts is one I was just struggling with because in all honestly, I was racing the clock and just wanted it done. But then, I felt it wasn’t my best work, and wasn’t a good representation of what I could do with her. I did get the costume to where I was happy enough and was going to do the photo shoot in a friend’s studio, but each day that passed added more pressure. Added to additional deadlines at work, and I inevitably had a pain flare up. I overdid myself and over exhausted myself. I left work today early because I was shaky and barely able to focus through the pain.
It takes a good friend…
Or in this case, (wo)man’s best friend. I returned home, tired, achy, and maybe even slightly depressed… and found that Mystic had gotten into my costumes, and had some fun with my Queen of Hearts mask.
In the rush of emotions, I surprised myself by laughing out loud! It was a sign, you could say. Of all the costumes for her to have destroyed… it was this one. Not even the costume, just an accessory. It’s as if it was a message to just stop. And a perfectly timed one. After picking up the pieces and unceremoniously dumping them in the trash, I climbed into bed with Mystic and proceeded to sleep for 3 hours straight.
So with that said, I’m looking forward to getting these last few posts actually up on the blog, but just as excited to start writing some more editorial posts and fewer tutorial ones, at least for awhile. And trust me, I have a ton of ideas for next year 😉
Hi! I'm Alyce. 
