Breathe In… And Take A Break

After 2.5 years with RRC, I took a sabbatical THE WHOLE MONTH OF DECEMBER *insert feelings of excitement, stress, overwhelm, and peace*

If you’re thinking to yourself HOW, you’re not alone. I recorded a YouTube video all about:

– WHAT I WANT MY DECEMBER SABBATICAL TO LOOK LIKE

– WHAT I WANT TO GET OUT OF IT

– AND HOW

If you are wondering about the practicalities of taking such an adventure away from your business for an extended period of time, WATCH THIS VIDEO.

Ok now for a little life update…

I’ve never taken extended leave from work, but I was hopeful that it would be worth every bit of the prep I put in, meetings with my assistant, having to say no, and the “missed” opportunities.

I prayed December would be a time in which I could finally SLOW DOWN after 2.5 years of trying to get ahead. And I am happy to report IT WAS! Below are some takeaways from my entrepreneur sabbatical and what I did (practically) during that time.

Work my creative muscle

Then I went to college where my graphic design professor said all design REALLY is is copying others artwork and changing it. There are no original ideas.

This may have partial truth to it, but it led me down a bad path of looking at Pinterest whenever I needed logo inspiration. That is one of the reasons I cut logos from my packages and began just doing websites.

One actionable step I’m taking to combat this deeply rooted insecurity and belief? Creating graphics JUST FOR ME. I joined the Holly Jolly Design Challenge and Y’ALL! It is so much fun! Thanks Olivia Herrick Design for putting this on! Here are just a few of the prompts that I have ran away with:

Best Netflix Christmas Movies Ranked

Another thing I did during Sabbatical? CHRISTMAS MOVIES! I even used one of the HJDC prompts to create a ranked list of the Netflix Christmas movies. Need more details?! I’ve got you!

Let me preface this with I am partial to Hallmark movies. That being said, here is the best to worst Christmas movies on Netflix (just the ones in the above checklist):

1. A Christmas Prince (A Netflix Classic. Reporter meets Prince. Skip the 2nd & 3rd movie.)
2. Holiday in the Wild (Newly single woman meets guy in the wild in Zambia. The perfect storm for a whirlwind romance.)
3. Christmas Inheritance (Ellen goes from drinking socialite to hometown friend when she has to deliver a letter from her dad in order to inherit her dad’s company)
4. The Christmas Chronicles (Santa’s sleigh crashes. What’s new. A brother and sister team helping out!)
5. Holiday Calendar (An antique Advent calendar predicts what happens each day. It made me smile so that’s a win.)
6. Princess Switch (Vanessa Hudgens switches with herself in this movie where hometown girl goes princess. But please skip the sequel. It’s very not worth your time.)
7. Holidate (And this is the difference between Hallmark and Netflix. Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey bring the fun. Unfortunately Kristen Chenoweth doesn’t bring the singing.)
8. Jingle Jangle (I’ll be honest I got a little bored when there was like 5 different storylines, but I loved the music and dancing. All the Greatest Showman vibes.)
9. The Knight Before Christmas (A knight is transported to the present day and meets Vanessa Hudgens. She is the new Lacey Chabert/ Candace Cameron Bure but in Netflix)

Want to learn more about my first 15 days of Sabbath?

And here was my top 3 takeaways from Sabbatical:

Is this your first time here?

Hey friend! I’m Bekah 👋 

I’m the chatty friend who is always trying to get you to go on your next mountain adventure (my husband secretly loves it, I know). I fill my days with puppy cuddles from my GIANT Leonberger-doodle (it’s not a thing), Christmas playlists (tell me I’m not alone) and a fast-paced lifestyle. 

So, why website design? My heart for orphans is actually what led me to starting a business. My passion for foster care fuels all my decisions in my personal life and corporate just wasn’t doing it for me. I wanted a business that let me give how I wanted to give and travel when I wanted to return to Honduras. 2.5 years ago Rebekah Read Creative was born and I haven’t looked back.

If you’d like to learn more about my story and how I bring a strategic process to my website designs, check out my website.