Well, that was sad. The kids went back to school and I missed two #BlogElul posts in a row. Life is just like that sometime.

So the words that I missed were Be and Believe, and today’s word is Hear. Last year I wrote about finding the writer’s voice, and the year before, while I was still on Blogger, I wrote about hearing G-d’s still, quiet voice inside us. Nice posts, if I do say so myself.

This year, I am in the midst of a major overwhelm. Try as I might to Be and to Believe, I have overcommitted myself, and all I can Hear is the voices in my head trying not to panic.

On the one hand, it is all good and exciting stuff – the kids are back in school/university and all three of them are looking forward to a great year. I have all sorts of volunteer commitments to the school which need to start gearing up again. Hot lunch, anyone?

I’m helping to organise and lead a complete High Holy Day service (and I’m STILL looking for someone to davven Shacharit on the second day of Rosh HaShanah – I think a lot of my stress will go away once I find this person). I’m reading Torah in front of 1200 people, give or take a few. There’s a fair amount of preparation involved in both of these endeavours.

My Isagenix team is having a week of events and excitement (if I sent you an invitation to a local event, do please come!) which is wonderful, but it’s right in the middle of everything else. I will not be left behind, however, so I’m fitting that in somewhere as well.

Plus, of course, there’s the usual shopping and cooking and driving kids all over the city. At least most of the activities haven’t started yet, and the two older ones are bus-literate. But suddenly two hours have disappeared from my day, just like that. I really miss my carpool.

Hearing the still quiet voice? Not so much. But despite all the complaining, I am still very much excited about all the new beginnings and all the things that I am doing. I just need to quiet that monkey voice sometime and hear the silence inside. I bet I will sleep better then, too.

How about you, has Elul/September overwhelmed you in monkey mind? Or are you still able to hear the still, quiet voice inside? Let me know!