I've been going through a bit of a crisis in recent months with social stuff, and I've posted about that, but there has been another component I haven't felt ready to share publicly until now. I've been working for 2+ years at a corporation that has a very intense work load, especially at certain times of the year. Due in large part to the amount of work and stress, I've struggled recently with resurfacing depression and insomnia, and my health has hit a breaking point to the extent where I'm now beginning a medical leave of absence.

There are a lot of other underlying issues, some of which are specific to my team and some of which are part of the company culture. My workplace unfortunately has a reputation for these very sorts of problems (I won't name it for privacy reasons.)

As I'm trying to recuperate and get some balance in my life, I'm hoping to figure out if I can even stick it out at this organization. There are a lot of things I really like about it, namely the smart, team oriented, collaborative people that I work with and the exposure to work I hadn't been able to do elsewhere. I won't say I'm the "breadwinner" necessarily, but my salary is definitely the highest in my household. But the lack of balance is taking its toll on my body and my life, and I've been letting everyone down. I haven't made headway at all on planning my wedding, I collapse and sleep after I get home from work, and I can't keep up with all of my professional projects.

I'm hoping to participate on YLF a bit more after not having time for it in these past couple years, and drastically missing social interactions that I used to have during my active participation. However, as I'm on leave and grappling with what my future employment will look like, I am curtailing my budget dramatically. I purchased wisely during NAS, filling a lot of holes and needs so that my wardrobe is in a GREAT place, but I think that will be my last hurrah for shopping for quite a while.