Hello world!
In a bid to reach out to all my friends and readers I figured why not resurrect the blog for a hot minute!
Hopefully everyone is doing as well as to be expected? With the world in a tailspin it’s hard to keep days straight and the mind in a positive space. As an introvert by nature, staying inside is pretty much my ideal scenario and I’m at least able to live in a positive atmosphere – I know, that’s an extreme silver lining and not everyone else’s situation but that’s how I’m getting through, because this whole virus ordeal is pretty scary!
There are a LOT of people harping on about losing weight, daily exercise, learning new things, etc… I can’t help but feel like those people are trying to convince you that you can find the good in whatever situation you find yourself in at the moment. If anything it makes me want to NOT do any of those things..!
Maybe it’s the Gemini in me, not liking being told what to do? Who knows! All I know is, I’m blocking out all the people telling me what I should/could be doing and finding my own way… which, I realised, actually had me following those people’s advice and realising they might be onto something. Look, like I said. I’m a Gemini! I’m told to turn left, so I turn right enough that I end up going left anyway, y’know what I mean?
I have been thinking about all the little things I’ve been doing as silver linings so here is my list of them:
Yoga every day – I do yoga every day anyway but without the need to leave the house I’ve been doing it at different times during the day and I’ve done some live yoga classes. The ability to be more flexible with my day has really helped me dive deeper into my practice. I’m still rubbish at it.
Sourdough – Yes, like everyone else, I have turned to sourdough. To be fair, it’s because I forgot about my old starter and it died so I’ve created a new one and will be making a loaf very soon. Look – bread is life.
Walking every day – I always walk Juno every. single. morning. but I’ve started to stay out a little longer and go on longer walks because I appreciate the time now. It’s especially lovely because we’re having a real spring in the UK. Hello Sun!
Working out* – I love working out but I can’t risk irritating my bad lungs (sometimes excessive exercise results in me having severe colds/ debilitating asthma issues) so as much as I’d love to run again, my fear of death is obviously holding me back. I’ve actually been more playful with my workouts recently – moving my body as and when I feel like it. It feels good to move for fun!
Learning new things – I’m re-learning things, rather than starting from scratch, but I recently got a new Wacom tablet to start doing digital art again and I’m loving it. New obsession.
Resting more – You know what’s great about working from home? Getting to sleep in for longer because your commute from the sofa to the desk only takes 2 seconds! I’m still trying to get earlier bed-times but being able to wake up an hour later than usual (sometimes) is heaven!
Reducing intake of news – Each day I scan the news but I’ve stopped reading every single update on coronavirus. I don’t find it helpful for my mental wellbeing so I decided to say ‘nope’ to it and it’s a good decision. Recommended.
Increasing intake of tv/movies/podcasts – I have never had a problem with watching TV shows ALL the time but I have increased my watch time quite a bit because why not delve into fiction for a time? I’ve also found a few new (to me) podcasts to listen to which has been great. I love listening to podcasts when I’m cooking and particularly love ones where it’s people just hanging out and chatting! My go-to’s are This Might Get Weird, Directionally Challenged, and Fake Doctors, Real Friends.
Writing / Book Shop break – I had these grand ideas, when we were told we had to stay at home, that I would finally finish my edits for the book I’m working on and I’d be able to dedicate so much time to my book shop and yet… the idea of doing it fills me with dread. My day-to-day job is still very busy and spending more time at my desk isn’t what I need right now. I also feel like a jerk trying to sell people books, and asking them to spend money when a lot of people don’t have an income right now so… I’m trying to be kind to myself about putting things on hold.
Sinking into softer self care – no jeans, yoga clothes only, no makeup. Without the strange desire to ‘pretty’ myself up I’m loving just mooching around in soft clothes and not painting things on my face every day. Don’t get me wrong – I love normal clothes and wearing some make up every now and then but if I don’t have to, I won’t! I’m still not into the wearing PJ’s during the day phase, but I’ve never liked doing that anyway. If YOU do – just do it. Getting dressed is so 2019!
I, in no way, am saying that you should be doing any of these things. I’m not even going to ask you what YOU’RE doing during this time. All I’m trying to say is these are the little things I’m really enjoying during a time of unease in the world. These things are what are keeping me grounded in my own reality, helping me feel safe and happy at home – which is what we should all strive to feel virus or not! If you are every feeling a bit bummed out about the new normal write yourself a list of the things you’re enjoying doing. Make your own silver linings play book (yeah, I said it) and remember this will hopefully end soon-ish and we can find new footing in a brave new world.
Apologies if this blog post is a bit wishy washy! I have been suffering incredibly strong waves of fatigue because I forget to take breaks from my computer during the day – perhaps I’ll blog about that in the near future! Who knows!
Until next time – stay safe, stay well and stay the hell away from the people talking about losing weight!
Sam
*I have been very vocal on social media about my hatred for the weight-loss culture we live in and I struggle every day with my body image so I’m still REALLY against the mention of diets and losing weight for anything other than feeling good in your body, not feeling good about what other people think about your body. I could write reems and reems of pages about the intricacies of body image in our society so I won’t go into it but if you aren’t losing weight at home DON’T WORRY. YOUR BODY IS FINE!
Pretty Thoughtful Blog 
Hello Sam, enjoyed reading your post. I absolutely agree with you on “finding our own ways” of doing stuff. I think by copying what other people does or say will not give us the same taste as if we do it with our own will. We should be the one siting in the driver seat of our own life.
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