It’s September…. back to school season in the UK, and time to look over July and August. In case you missed them, here are the bimonthly links for 2024 so far! Jan+Feb | Mar+Apr | May+Jun
The UK Summer was, as is common these days, very up and down. Climate change is truly real.
July and August were two lovely months. I got back to a normal working pattern, and even outside of work, had a very busy 8 weeks.
In July, I finished my 365-day-streak of Welsh, moved over to learning German, joined the local archery club, finished a certificate in Counselling Skills, had a ‘wild day out with wolves’ and met my partner’s daughter.
In August, I celebrated friend’s birthdays, had a holiday with my partner and her daughter, my guest workshop on Finishing Projects went live in the Academy, attended Pride in the rain, and celebrated my birthday.
~
Reflections on the Journey:
Intuition:
i. Read 6 books (& Take Notes): – I’m reading a couple of times a week. I’ve not finished any more books but I’m feeling okay about this. I’m at 4/6 books for 2024.
ii. Continue Weekly Therapy: – Tick. Still in weekly counselling, officially joined the local Archery Club, then got an archery injury >_> But I’m working on my health and wellbeing.
iii. Return to Daily Journaling : – Definitely did some more emotional journaling in July and August including some cathartic poetry.
Creation:
iv. Track Fiction Wordcount: – No story crafting, although I did begin to open up Darkening Skies to read snippets by the end of August.
v. Weekly Integration: – Half-Tick – It’s been an on-and-off habit.
Stabilisation:
vi. Build on my Healthy Habits: – Tick. Spending time with my partner has opened up food options, as she’s happy to cook and for my birthday made me my fav meal practically from scratch <3
vii. Movement 3x a Week: – Half-Tick. I exercised 14/31 days in July and 14/31 days in August. I was active over the time, although I also got diagnosed with De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis and am still wearing wrist/thumb braces during the day, and taking 3 weeks off from archery has reduced this number.
viii. Create a Cleaning Routine: – My partner has been great at doing a few chores with/for me on her visits which has helped me in pacing on some of my more fatiguing weeks.
Connection:
ix. Socialise Monthly With Friends: – Tick! I’ve been so social these past 8 weeks, it’s so strange for me. I went to archery 5 times, making a new group of friends there, saw my partner 4 times, had many friends visit, met an online friend from America for the first time as she docked in my city, and visited various places (cat café, farm, zoo, bird of prey centre, space centre), and both pride and the wolf day out were lovely community events.
x. About Reinvention and Creativity: – I’m slowly picking this back up – I wrote 2 newsletters, updated my Patreon twice, and posted one Medium post reflecting on my mental health journey.
xi. Access Nature: – This is not as integrated as I would like it, but having additional pain and hand/write/thumb issues as well as my usual ankle, knee and hip pains – I’m trying to be kind to myself. I missed the Druid ceremony for Lughnasadh and I’m due to miss the next two – but I did spend a lot of time outside with my partner and her daughter, as well as getting outside for many of the social events.
Integration:
xii. Build on Skills: – I’m over 420 days of continued Duolingo learning, began dabbling a bit in CSS and HTML coding, and begun considering what I want to focus on for the last quarter of 2024. My trilogy has been calling to me again, and since my mental health is stabilising, I find myself wanting to write more about reinvention and continue my gentle return to my business foundations.