Tips on Tuesday: Dealing with the Hiatus in Life

Some of you have noticed I've been a bit Missing in Action these past few weeks. While it was unintentional, I ended up on a blogging hiatus. Between Gifted Summer School and Band Camp, I was spending over two hours a day in my car, then going to lunch with the kids and finding myself at home for only short periods of time. It was crazy...and I'm glad it's almost over...but I'm glad my kids had these opportunities and got to participate in such terrific programs.

When I was thinking about this unintentional hiatus from blogging, I decided to see what the dictionary has to say about the word hiatus. I found Merriam-Webster says:

1a : a break in or as if in a material object : gap 
  b : a gap or passage in an anatomical part or organ



2a : an interruption in time or continuity : break; especially : a period when something (as a program or activity) is suspended or interrupted
  b : the occurrence of two vowel sounds without pause or intervening consonantal sound

I thought it was interesting that it's not only an interruption of time, but it's also a break as if in a material object. That's how I've felt. A bit disconnected--in a gap, if you will--from my normal routine and my friends and family. I was spending a lot of time alone in the car. Not all of it was driving, so I had time to read, but it was time away from home, from my family and from connecting with others.

Then I read on to the origins and laughed out loud. Check out the origin:

Origin of HIATUS
Latin, from hiare to yawn — more at yawn

Can't you just laugh? It comes from the word yawn--which I was doing lots of. It's hard for me to consistently get everyone up, dressed, fed and out the door by 7:40am with their 'stuff' for the morning. I was dressed sloppily with wet-hair and running late most days.

Then I was looking at the synonyms and antonyms:

Related to HIATUS
Synonyms: breach, break, discontinuity, gulf, gap, hole, interstice, interval, opening, rent, rift, separation, void
Antonyms: continuation, continuity

It sums up how I was feeling. There was discontinuity in my life. A gulf, gap or hole from my normal. I felt the void of not being able to connect with friends as a physical void. I wasn't able to keep my breakfast dates with my BFF and because I only had pockets of time, I couldn't call her either. I spent lots of time in the car, but I don't like to drive and talk on the phone so I'd have 5-10 minutes here before racing to the other school to have 15 minutes there. It wasn't enough time to span the gulf I was in.

Then I realized I wasn't blogging and was falling further and further behind. The gap was growing and my interval was too long. It was painful for me to not be able to devote any time to all the things that were going on. I discovered how much I missed connecting with you, hearing from you and being able to bring you deals/reviews/giveaways.

And now I'm looking at the question, "How do you deal with a hiatus in your life?" One thing I did was deepen my prayer. I had time to sit alone quietly while waiting for kids. Some of that time I read, but I started praying more. And when I prayed for my family and friends, I found myself feeling less alone. Prayer was able to close the gap and span the void I was feeling in my life. I'm a praying person who knows prayer works, but when I was feeling the most disconnected from life, I found prayer was the best connector I had.

So if you find yourself in a hiatus of some sort, I encourage you to pray the situation through to completion. I hope you don't find yourself in a surprise hiatus since it's not all it's cracked up to be. If you take a planned hiatus, I think it's different because you have plans for that time. If you ever find yourself in a hiatus and start feeling a gap between you and your life, I hope you will pray. And please contact me, it would be my honor and privilege to pray with you, too.