“Milk-white clouds pillow in an agate sky. Buds swell tightly against slender branches, and soft, mousy catkin beg to be patter by children on their way to school. Fresh rain breaks over the greening Earth, scattering the petals of cherry blossoms like confetti at a birthday party, and there’s a brave new slant to the sunlight coming through the kitchen window at daybreak.”
– Michelle Morgan
Without going into tons of detail, my mental health has been a little wavy so far this year. Thus, another merged summary, covering March to April.
Most of March and April was day-job stressors, some difficult situations around the area I live in, and my phone was killed by the company who made it. Fun times.
May is already an improvement, and with the turning of the seasons, so my health re-stabilises.
Reflections on the Journey
i. Read 12 books: 0/12 – I made some progress, although have yet to finish a book entirely. I’m enjoying what I’m reading, and have spent time making notes so the slower pace is working for me. As is true to my usual form, I even started reading another book before finishing my current ones…
ii. Edit The Felled Gods: I’m still planning, still making small tweaks. Progress is slow, but I spent a lot of these eight weeks
iv. Level-up my Wellness Routines: I’ve been focused on meditation and rest. Sleeping on the sofa a lot, which isn’t ideal, but in terms of ensuring I get rest, it’s not a bad thing as long as only temporary.
v. Connection Evolution: My social calendar has been pretty consistent, and even with the difficulties of this season, I’ve been pretty connected, and this was definitely a positive to March and April.
Smoke and Ember
Smoke and Ember spent March leaving us alone at night following H’s night shifts, but by April, they’re both back to waking us at 2am… and 3:!5am… and 5:10am… and 5:50am… *sigh* But they’re happy and healthy, and as cute as ever.
They’re even getting on with the neighbour cat, who constantly tries to get in our house. They’re not friends, don’t get me wrong, but they’re tolerating him which they stopped doing over the winter.
Jumping the Wall…
- In March, we attended a family gathering, including seeing my niece who just turned a year old.
- A local friend moved up north, so we said goodbye with McDonalds and the cats.
- I got a new phone after the latest Android update turned my 2.5 year old wileyfox into a brick. I sent it back for repair but it returned with the same issues so.. R.I.P wileyfox swift. [The new one arrived in May, but the Wileyfox first started dying in Feb.]
- I re-shaped my website to be clearer about what I do. If you’ve got a shelf on self-help books you can’t act upon, maybe I can help.
- I made some progress on The Felled Gods, although most of it still smaller tweaks: little details filled in here and there.
- I started reading a book on DBT, something I’ve actually not studied before.
- I caught up with an old friend from Unversity, and we put the world right.