Living by the coast is the inspiration for this lovely Colour Play palette.
Read moreColour Play: Fresh Spring
Spring inspired colours in the middle of Winter for this new Colour Play colour palette
Read moreSaying Goodbye to January + Turning 60!
January is drawing to a close and it feels like yesterday that I was excited to be starting a New Year. It’s been a month of “peaks and troughs”. I celebrated my 60th birthday with my family on a lovely long weekend away at Centre Parcs Longleat Forest in early January. Such a special time and a much needed break away.
It was freezing cold which made it even more special somehow. Frost on the ground, wrapping up warm for forest walks and fun in the warm tropical swimming pools. I love being in a swimming pool that is outside. Seeing the steam rising off the water. Looking up and being surround by the amazing trees of the forest. And then watching my grandchildren playing. The older ones going on the rapids and the younger ones enjoying the fun of the lazy river.
And turning 60yrs. I’ve always believed in “growing old gracefully”. That there is so much wisdom and experience as we grow older that we can share with others along the way. To have grace in the aging process. Reaching milestone ages has never bothered me before. Turning 60 felt different. And I truly don’t know why. Inside I feel much younger. Isn’t that the truth for all of us reaching a certain pivotal age?! And yet, the past few weeks have left me thinking a bit more deeply about my life.
It’s made me think more about what I want to achieve. Things I feel I’m not getting done. Having good intentions but not really doing enough to make it happen. I think it’s all normal. That feeling of living the same day over and over. And for me, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m hugely grateful for the life I have. The life I live every day. But there are things I want and need to do that aren’t getting done.
For some reason, since my 60th birthday, those things have suddenly come into sharp focus. So how can I change my habits, my daily routine enough that I can achieve those things? Oh and believe me, they’re not necessarily earth shattering, world changing things ha! But important to me.
I’ve been journalling about it over the past 5 weeks. I’m not a “die hard” journaler, but recently found solace in writing first thing in the morning. Putting my thoughts, ideas, goals, intentions in my journal has helped me figure out how to spend my time more wisely. How to make little changes that will help me feel better about myself too.
It’s hard though. One issue is that I’ve noticed my sleep patterns have changed over the last 10yrs. Some of that is to do with the menopause, I think. I find it hard to get up in the mornings whereas I used to love getting up early and enjoying the peace and quiet. I wanted to get that back but boy oh boy is it hard to get up when that alarm first goes off!
However, it’s working. Slowly. I’m enjoying the early morning time on my own. I’m getting into a routine that is helping me with my work too. I run my own very small business which I’ve struggled with since Covid and other unforeseen personal issues. I’m getting it back up and running, and changing how I start my day is helping.
Having a smaller daily “to do” list has helped. I buy the same planner every year and I love it. It’s laid out in a way that works for me and I love filling it in each Sunday evening, planning my week ahead. There’s a “to do” list that has only three lines. But I would often ignore it and do one that’s much longer which isn’t realistic and feels you feeling disappointed when you haven’t ticked off everything on that list. I now think more intentionally about what needs to be done on any given day making sure I try and stick to those three main things. Again, not easy and doesn’t always work but there’s progress. Progress over perfection has to be a good thing.
It’s the same with my sewing projects, quilts and fabric. I wanted to be more organised and intentional about getting time to sew. It’s something I struggled with last year. I hardly did any sewing.
What was important to finish? What projects did I want to make this year? How would I prioritise them? So many of these were thoughts in the back of my head and would often paralyse me so I wouldn’t even start anything or finish existing projects. Writing it all down, and then sorting everything out, really helped. I went through my fabrics, books, tools and I even sorted out my sewing/tools boxes. I love a good clear out and wonder why I don’t do it more ofter! It’s so cathartic.
I then bought some extra project bags from Amazon and now have a well organised box or my WIPs (work in progress). I’ll probably do a separate post on this in the next couple of weeks.
While the past few weeks have been “up and down”, I feel hopeful and more intentional about my everyday life. Taking those small steps each day will see progress over time. And being kind to myself on the days that just feel too hard, is key to that progress and my overall well being.
I’d love to know if you’ve had a good January or if you find this month particularly hard. Or maybe it was a little like mine with those “peaks and troughs”. Please feel free to leave a comment.
Colour Play: Love Blue
One of my favourite colours is the inspiration for this new colour palette.
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