Wake Up
“Wake up! Momma, you overslept!”
My daughter Zoë flipped on the light and suddenly I was awake.
Now hold on a second. I am supposed to be the momma, not Zoë.
I jumped up like a five-alarm fire was happening.
“Get dressed! Get your brother up! I need coffee and you all need breakfast!”
“Okay, it’s okay”! I mumbled trying to calm myself down and fully wake up.
Smoothing down my locs, I took a deep breath and jumped into my clothes. A jumpsuit. The official uniform of a woman who doesn’t have time to think about what she’s wearing. I dashed down the stairs and immediately started multitasking.
- Coffee.
- Breakfast.
- Backpacks.
- Shoes.
- Children.
How did I end up here?
I was exhausted and I was late.
My internal gas tank binged “just a few more tasks to empty”, but there were only five days of school left. I felt like I had just enough energy left to make it. At least that’s what I kept telling myself.
Then my son hollered from upstairs.
“Mom, can I just stay home?”
I was so very tempted to say yes.
Not just to him.
To all of us.
Let’s all stay home.
Let’s all go back to bed.
Because that’s what fatigue will do to you.
It will make simple tasks feel impossible. It will make you question commitments you normally enjoy. It will convince you that one more thing is too much.
That’s why rest isn’t a luxury.
It’s a necessity.
You can’t go so hard that you never allow yourself to recharge. Running on empty leads to burnout, and I was so very close.
The funny thing is that later that same day, I had a voiceover session.
As many of you know, I want to be a top recognized Black female voice actor. So, showing up burned out, tired, and beat down was not the way to get there.
And then there is my day job. I also needed to be present for my sales team.
That got me thinking.
How can you continue to give when your cup is empty?
The answer is simple.
You can’t.
You must care for yourself just as much as you care for everyone else.
After I dropped the kids off at school, I came home, canceled my morning meetings, took a long hot shower, and crawled back into bed.
Three hours later, I felt like a different person. I was able to show up in good spirits.
I was able to get the work done. I was able to be present.
But I also realized something important.
I needed to do better.
Rest is just as important as success.
- Sleep is sacred.
- Time off is required.
- Silence is golden.
So, I made some changes.
Now, I take the first hour of the morning for myself.
- I stretch.
- I pray.
- I meditate.
- Sometimes I just sit quietly.
Then at a lull in my agenda during the day, I purposely turn off my computer, close my eyes, and breathe.
- No agenda.
- No phone.
- No problem-solving.
Just a moment to recalibrate. A moment to focus on absolutely nothing.
At the end of the day, I make a cup of tea.
It’s become a joke in our house.
Everyone knows Momma is winding down when I ask, “Anybody want a cup of tea?”
That simple question has become my signal that the day is over.
- It’s time to rest.
- Time to recharge.
- Time to refill my cup.
These days, I’m back to being the one yelling, “Wake up!”
And it feels good to feel good.
Life isn’t perfect. Neither am I. But every day give us another chance to get inspired again.
Yolanda Spearman
–THE Black Female Voice Actor
