Accepting my limitations is a constant battle for me. I’m interested in more things than one person could ever hope to do. My chronic conditions just make it all harder, forcing me to sacrifice some activities in order to do others. I knew this going into the virtual Wild Wonder 2022 nature journaling conference and scheduled accordingly. While my plan failed, I still learned a lot from the conference.

Given my health, I couldn’t possibly sit through all the sessions. The conference ran twelve hours a day for five days. Even for a healthy person, that’s a grueling schedule to maintain (as Marley Peifer can tell you — he didn’t miss a single event!) So I made a list of the classes I really wanted to take this week. While I will have access to them until April next year, it’s nice to be part of the conference as it is happening. It helps you to feel connected and involved.

Because I was only doing a few classes a day, I assumed I could keep up with other activities, like working on my novel and writing a blog post. It turns out I wasn’t even able to follow the easy schedule I set or participate in the daily nature journal challenge that was part of the conference. I got much too tired and had to skip sessions I really wanted to attend.

This was a blow. I had to remind myself that everyone has limitations, and plenty of people have to make adjustments because their day isn’t going as planned. As classes I wanted to take started without me, I reminded myself that there would be another opportunity to view them and let myself get the rest I needed instead.

For the classes I did attend, I gave my all. I focused on the lessons, took notes, tried the exercises, and soaked up as much knowledge as I could. All of them were content-rich, with lots for me to think about and practice.

In the end, I took less than a third of the Wild Wonder 2022 classes. Fortunately, that was plenty. I came away excited, inspired, and full of hope. I have a list of new-to-me techniques I want to play with. I finally have the courage to start a nature journaling project I first thought of two years ago. And I can look forward to watching the classes I missed later this winter, when I have the energy to do so.

I’m still not happy to be so limited, but I am grateful that I was able to participate and learn from some of the skilled teachers at the conference.

If you are interested, you can buy a video-only pass for Wild Wonder 2022 (no affiliation) after October 1, 2022. The videos will be available to watch until April 18, 2023.

How do you help yourself accept your limitations?