Some mid-week musings…
Hiya! It’s been a while since I sat down at my laptop and wrote an unplanned post, but it seemed like a good day to do it. I’ve been in hormonal hell lately but it finally lifted this week and yesterday we woke up to a blizzard and a few inches of snow, so I’m in good spirits and feeling a little more like myself!
01. Recently I got myself a gratitude journal so each morning I’ve been writing down some thoughts and feelings; I’ve found the last couple of weeks to be the hardest I’ve encountered since the start of the pandemic almost a year ago (more on that here). I’m not sure if it’s this stretch of nothingness in the middle of winter, or just a bit of lockdown fatigue combined with hormones, but everything has been a little bit overwhelming. Waking up and writing down 3 things I’m grateful for every day helps me to put things in perspective, and I find just jotting down my thoughts first thing means I sort of empty my head on to the pages and I can relax a little. It’s a good practice to have I think! Today I’m grateful for co-codamol, Mini Eggs and TikTok… and that’s all I’ll say on that.
02. While I’m happy with the content I’ve been sharing lately, both on here and Instagram, I feel like I haven’t been pushing myself lately and I’d love to be a little more creative. Saying that, one thing I’ve learnt through working for myself for the last 8 years or so, is that you can’t push these things. If lockdown fatigue/hormones/the crushing weight of the world is making me feel exhausted and I can only just keep my head above water, then so be it. I find the more I guilt-trip myself in to trying to do too much, the more it takes the fun out of it and I just feel overwhelmed.
I think this is something we can all relate to right now – there’s this underlying pressure that we seem to place on ourselves to start a side project, commit to daily workouts, keep on top of correspondence, check in with our loved ones etc. I truly do think it’s enough to just make it through the day, but it’s hard to keep that in mind when you’re seeing everyone else doing incredible work. It’s a constant internal battle, but I try to remember that what we see is the final result of a lot of time and hard work and not an overnight success. Slowly chipping away at goals and projects is the secret!
03. I’ve been reading a lot more lately, I’ve just started my 9th book of the year which means I’m ahead of my goal of 30 books a year! I love that feeling of not being able to put down a book, and I’ve read some really great reads lately. You can see my Goodreads here, I sort my books in to shelves by year so if you’re looking for recommendations, they’re all there!
I just started Klara And The Sun* which is the new book by Kazuo Ishiguro, I was so lucky to be sent a press sample so I got my hands on it before release. I’m only a few pages in but so far I’m loving it – the reviews are great too!
04. I woke up this morning for the second day with the most painful cramps, I’ve reached my painkiller quota already so I’m having to grin and bear it. And by “bear it” I mean… be a miserable bitch all day. Jordan just made the mistake of reading out a letter from the council while I was trying to type this post, and I snapped at him and said “do you think you could perhaps read that in your head instead of out loud?” – savage.
We were meant to be shooting some work stuff today but I’ve had to shift it to tomorrow, so instead I’m spending the day with my hot water bottle and laptop trying to get some emails and other bits done. Sometimes we just have to listen to our body and have a bit of a rest – I get quite bad ‘self-employed guilt’ so I always try to fit so much in to the working week, never allowing myself a proper day off! Does anyone else feel like this? I’ve been thinking about getting a life coach to help me navigate these feelings – I’d love to hear if anyone else has had any success with anything similar!
05. Even though I’m not feeling my best, I’m going to find the energy to go on a walk today! It always helps to improve my mood, and I feel like we should make the most of the snow. The Southside has been abuzz with sledgers and people out enjoying the weather so it’s a great atmosphere. We’ve been walking around the quieter areas and going to different (read: less busy) parks, it makes a change from our usual route (I’m sick of the sight of our local park, to be honest!) and it’s lovely to see the city coated in snow. My only goal for today is to get outside and enjoy the snow and sunshine! Aim high, Kate.
A very real life update from me – aren’t periods a treat?! On the plus side, I’ve somehow made it on to Work Trouser TikTok so my For You Page is filled with videos like this and I am LIVING FOR IT.
Happy Wednesday my loves! xo.
