This Post is Late

sorry / not sorry

“Oops” © Katharine Rawdon 2026

Usually I post on Substack Friday afternoon. I like the weekly rhythm, and it marks the end of the “work week” (most weekends I’m working but I appreciate the idea of a weekend). Posting regularly gives me a tiny rush of endorphins and a self-thumbs-up, and often sparks an interesting back-and-forth in the comments.

Dear readers, the last couple weeks were insane, and I couldn’t manage it. Today is Wednesday already, so perhaps that is an epic fail for a Friday deadline…

But I’m ok with that, because on every other front, it’s been a cray-cray series of wins: recording sessions, rehearsals, various concerts, teaching, a last-minute orchestration job, and being out of town. I even managed a moment or two to draw.

So, sorry / not sorry. Sometimes our plates are truly overfull.

I’m sure you have these moments, too—a week, a month, God forbid, an entire year. When they arrive, I encourage you to give yourself permission to put off whatever can be put off.

This goes doubly for women, the highly competent, and the highly responsible. Just because someone is asking us to push through, and we can apparently manage almost any workload, does not mean that it is in our own interest to push on. If you can’t get it all done (or even half of it done) without damaging yourself, it’s got to be a firm (and unapologetic) “no”, or “not yet”. The stress, anxiety, and loss of sleep of being a Super-person are not worth it.

Furthermore, trying to meet someone else’s demands can be a total killjoy. And what good is art, music, or writing when it is no fun at all?

Alas, I often find that the “someone else” making demands is actually…me. I will demand perfection while also being hideously impatient, and what a bad combo that is!

So, dear readers, I am hereby practicing my imperfection skills…upon you! Hope you don’t mind.

If you’re like me, take heart—it is possible to cut yourself some slack. If, on the other hand, you’re constantly getting things done only way past the deadline, well, there’s something to be said for punctuality and its discipline.

But I won’t be the one nagging you about it, because all that rigor is good only up to a point. In the first week of August, that point has definitely arrived—happy summer!

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