Sepherina Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power This is my word for this year. And rather than find new things to do or track, I decided to lean hard into this for this challenge. Some may call it finding your inner villain (villains aren’t taken advantage of) or maybe setting boundaries. With either definition, it is time for this to happen in my life and there is no reason why it can’t happen. Some background Spoiler I turned 42 this year. I am a mom of three (self designated) minions. My youngest is a senior in HS and my other two are in college. I have been married over 20 years. During these years I have always been the provider financially and the parent/homemaker at home. The hubs does work, but work is usually seasonal and the money earned here is extra to the rest of our budget. I am exhausted always being the one with the stable job and the one taking care of everything at home. I can’t do this anymore and I am refusing to do so any more. There is no reason for “mom/wife” to do everything. Our kids are self sufficient. We purposefully raised them that way. The hubs is more than capable of doing things (he isn’t disabled and is in good health). The problem here lies with me….as the enabler. Being selfish with my time: Goal: At least once per day or when the opportunity arises, either say No to something/someone or request/delegate something to be done by a minion. Examples: Cooking dinner, buying something online, doing any number of household chores. Setting expectations: Goal: Have a conversation with each person in my family separately(by the end of the challenge) to bring them on board. I am lucky that they are helpful when asked, but the goal here is to get past me “asking” and them just doing. Our minions will have their own places in the next 3-5 years, it is time they really learn to just do and not be told, and honestly the hubs could be helping a lot more. Letting it go: Goal: This means letting things go. It may mean not doing dishes for days, not cooking dinner, or buying groceries, cleaning (this may be hard…I am the neat freak in the family). My overall goal here is to find more time and energy for me and enable my family to really take care of themselves without me doing everything for them. I am exhausted between full time work and full time mom/wife/house cleaner/meal planner …etc. Crash naps have made a reappearance in the last few weeks and I feel exhausted even after a full night of rest. (Blood work is fine per doctor). This exhaustion has caused me to be more irritable, resentful, angry and anxious. So there it is….no exercise goals…no tracking of meals….or anything else. I don’t have bandwidth for any of it until this situation is resolved. 3 5 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Artemis Prime Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 I'm sorry you have been struggling with exhaustion lately. That makes everything else so much harder. 3 hours ago, Sepherina said: Letting it go: Goal: This means letting things go. Fun (possibly untrue) fact: this fits nicely into a villain theme as rumor has it Elsa was originally intended to be the villain of Frozen (as the Snow Queen is the villain in the original story) but then after writing and recording "Let It Go" they decided it was too empowering to undermine it by making it the villain's song, so the story was rewritten to make Elsa one of the good guys. If true, I find it unnecessary as villains often have great songs, but it would explain how Hans's heel-turn comes out of nowhere and is very improperly foreshadowed, with moments like him acting like a good guy even when it does nothing to further his villainous goals. Sorry, I distracted myself. Here to follow along and support! 3 Quote "For God did not give us a spirit of fear; but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline". - 2 Timothy 1:7 "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." -Gandalf Link to comment
Elastigirl Posted September 8 Report Share Posted September 8 Cheering you on! 1 Quote Wisdom 22.5 Dexterity 13 Charisma 15 Strength 21 Constitution-13 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind' Luke 10; 27 Link to comment
Laghail Posted September 9 Report Share Posted September 9 loooove this challenge! Hella following. 1 Quote Level 38 [Raveling Bard] Link to comment
Sepherina Posted September 9 Author Report Share Posted September 9 3 hours ago, Artemis Prime said: Fun (possibly untrue) fact: this fits nicely into a villain theme as rumor has it Elsa was originally intended to be the villain of Frozen (as the Snow Queen is the villain in the original story) but then after writing and recording "Let It Go" they decided it was too empowering to undermine it by making it the villain's song, so the story was rewritten to make Elsa one of the good guys. If true, I find it unnecessary as villains often have great songs, but it would explain how Hans's heel-turn comes out of nowhere and is very improperly foreshadowed, with moments like him acting like a good guy even when it does nothing to further his villainous goals. I have heard this as well. I did have Elsa in mind when I considered this goal. I often advise others to let (usually emotional things) things go. I really need to take my own advice and realize the world won’t end if certain things don’t get done. 2 hours ago, Elastigirl said: Cheering you on! Happy to have you! I had a brief conversation with two minions about meals this upcoming week and they did take me up on them cooking one night each. (Minion #1 is 2 hours away at college). Hubs offered a third night so I am able to regain 3-6 hours of time that can be spent in more self care ways than preparing meals. Considering taking a long walk during those times with Maple, a hot bath or maybe just reading a good book with a mock tail. I have had little time for down time for things I enjoy lately and it would be nice to not do and to actually disengage. 3 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Sepherina Posted September 9 Author Report Share Posted September 9 8 minutes ago, Laghail said: loooove this challenge! Hella following. Thank you! And welcome!? Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Sepherina Posted September 9 Author Report Share Posted September 9 After a lot of rest yesterday and not doing much of anything I feel less exhausted this morning. The weather has officially settled into the last of summer. Some nights it has dropped into the high 40’s. My soul is craving hot apple cider, cosy fireplaces and warm well tailored sweaters. Born a summer girl who loves the heat (not humidity), my being could spend eternity in crisp mornings, cool evenings, the smells of leaves. Today to help with the “mental” exhaustion of work, I am going to try and use the Pomodoro method to disengage. In the past I have done a modified version of this with 50 minutes of work and a 10 minute break. I am going to try the 25 minutes of work with 5 minute break set up this time and see if it helps. And more of a verbal reminder to myself, “Nothing in my job is life critical, and my bosses think I am doing an outstanding job…so lets take it down a notch”. And when I woke, I found the hubs did most of the dinner dishes last night before he came to bed. It was a nice surprise after we have had a few conversations around me feeling burnt out in various spaces. I know he recognizes my fatigue and does try to help. I really don’t blame anyone on our current situation more than myself as I am an enabler and at my core a caretaker of those I love. 6 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Whisper Posted September 9 Report Share Posted September 9 Really happy to hear that everyone is willing to step up and help you get some breathing room in your life. 2 Quote We are not sinners trespassing in the garden of an angry God. We are prodigals come home; fully seen and deeply loved. Spoiler Unused for now, Quest Log: Not Silence in the Library but a Whisper in the Academy Link to comment
Laghail Posted September 9 Report Share Posted September 9 "I am doing an outstanding job…so lets take it down a notch” - honestly a good mantra 2 Quote Level 38 [Raveling Bard] Link to comment
Artemis Prime Posted September 9 Report Share Posted September 9 Yay for hubs stepping up! I've had good results with the Pomodoro method before, hoping it works well for you, too! 1 Quote "For God did not give us a spirit of fear; but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline". - 2 Timothy 1:7 "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." -Gandalf Link to comment
Sovalis Posted September 9 Report Share Posted September 9 I think this is a brilliant challenge and that it will indeed be challenging. I am proud of you for advocating for yourself and recognizing that you are part of the equation as it seems to me many people don’t realize that kind of thing easily. I hope that everyone comes onboard and the new balance establishes itself swiftly and with little need for reinforcement. Following! ❤️ 1 Quote Past Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16 Current Challenge: #17 “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment
Sepherina Posted September 12 Author Report Share Posted September 12 Happy Thursday everyone. Tired but okay. The week has been pretty chill so far and tonight minion #3 is on for fixing dinner. I did manage to speak to her about helping out more and she agreed that she could do more, starting with at least doing some weekly cleaning of the living room, dinning room and downstairs bathroom. Our house isn’t messy but it is lived in. The hubs also has noticed that he likes it when the kitchen is clean in the morning and has made an effort to do that as well. Gym days are happening still as are meals, I am just not prioritizing tracking either at this point. It adds more stress and right now I am nearly at my max. Work has been nuts and I feel like I am always going down the rabbit hole of “WTF did they do here” anytime I tackle anything related to our migration project. Lots of frustration but we are slowly moving forward. Some things I do have lined up . Friday we have our monthly creative session. I have only written a little on the world I am building, but I have been trying to expand my creative view and perspective in terms of content. I have read several new fantasy books lately (Ebony Gate, Witch King, Beware of Chicken, Legends and Lattes to name a few). Currently I am also perusing The Art and Craft of Storytelling, and Building A Second Brain. A lot of this is to jump start my imagination, to expand beyond standard fantasy, see what others are doing and what draws my attention and holds it. I am also paying attention to why I like or dislike something in terms of how the story is told. Later this week I need to plant into potsthe two fig tree cuttings I took and head to the Strip District for some supplies. I will probably do that Saturday as the hubs and minion #2 will take Maple to a friend’s house to hang out and play MTG, and minion #3 has to work. I am very much looking forward to an entire evening by myself with no need to worry abut entertaining anyone or cooking a meal. I am strongly considering a “me” date night. Well I should probably find some coffee and let Maple out. Thanks for reading and supporting! 4 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Sepherina Posted September 12 Author Report Share Posted September 12 On 9/9/2024 at 8:59 AM, Whisper said: Really happy to hear that everyone is willing to step up and help you get some breathing room in your life. Me too. Honestly the care for our home shouldn’t reside with just one person hounding everyone to do it. It’s a mindset change we are slowly trying to make with empathy. 2 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Sepherina Posted September 12 Author Report Share Posted September 12 On 9/9/2024 at 10:42 AM, Artemis Prime said: Yay for hubs stepping up! I've had good results with the Pomodoro method before, hoping it works well for you, too! It has worked in the past, but lately I found I am ignoring the break prompt. it’s hard with the current project but baby steps right? lol 2 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Sepherina Posted September 12 Author Report Share Posted September 12 On 9/9/2024 at 11:01 AM, Sovalis said: I think this is a brilliant challenge and that it will indeed be challenging. I am proud of you for advocating for yourself and recognizing that you are part of the equation as it seems to me many people don’t realize that kind of thing easily. I hope that everyone comes onboard and the new balance establishes itself swiftly and with little need for reinforcement. Following! ❤️ Me too! I know I can be an enabler and sometimes it is okay to take care of people, but lately it has felt like “mom” does almost everything and that shouldn’t be the case. I deserve to have time to do the things I love to do, and cleaning house/planning-cooking meals isn’t one of them. 1 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Artemis Prime Posted September 12 Report Share Posted September 12 2 hours ago, Sepherina said: I am very much looking forward to an entire evening by myself with no need to worry abut entertaining anyone or cooking a meal. I am strongly considering a “me” date night. Yes!!! Time home alone is the best - so glad you're getting some. Also a thought I had, might it be a good step to do some of the cooking/cleaning chores together? To be clear, nothing wrong with expecting hubs/minions to do some stuff on their own, but it occurred to me while reading your update that when my sister and I lived together we used to blast music and clean the whole place. Sometimes it was fun, sometimes it was still just a chore that needed done, but at least with both of us working it all got done quicker. 2 hours ago, Sepherina said: it’s hard with the current project but baby steps right? lol Baby steps indeed. Quote "For God did not give us a spirit of fear; but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline". - 2 Timothy 1:7 "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." -Gandalf Link to comment
Sovalis Posted September 12 Report Share Posted September 12 2 hours ago, Artemis Prime said: Yes!!! Time home alone is the best - so glad you're getting some. Also a thought I had, might it be a good step to do some of the cooking/cleaning chores together? To be clear, nothing wrong with expecting hubs/minions to do some stuff on their own, but it occurred to me while reading your update that when my sister and I lived together we used to blast music and clean the whole place. Sometimes it was fun, sometimes it was still just a chore that needed done, but at least with both of us working it all got done quicker. Baby steps indeed. I always feel better when Dave and I do chores together, too. It’s very, very rare, but it makes me feel loved. Glad you are getting a solo date, Friend! They are amazing! 2 Quote Past Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16 Current Challenge: #17 “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment
Sepherina Posted September 16 Author Report Share Posted September 16 On 9/12/2024 at 8:38 AM, Artemis Prime said: Yes!!! Time home alone is the best - so glad you're getting some. It was soo fantastic! On 9/12/2024 at 10:52 AM, Sovalis said: Glad you are getting a solo date, Friend! They are amazing! Yes they sure are! Travelling alone is also great too! I really leaned hard the last few days on not doing anything unless I absolutely wanted to. Friday we had our monthly creative meeting and the host for this one cooked dinner. It was nice to just show up with a bottle of wine and worry about nothing else. Saturday I had the house to myself most of the afternoon and evening since the hubs and minion #2 went to play MTG at a friend’s house. I ordered dinner out, vegged on the couch, enjoyed a hot bath and ice cream and then played about an hour of video games. Hubs didn’t get home until after 11….it was soo quiet. Today was much of the same. Not doing much but reading, napping or cleaning up a lot of random notes I have for various hobbies/projects. My latest enjoyment is “The Natural History of Dragons” and for all the note taking stuff I am reading “Building a Second Brain”. Dinner was from our meal kit that I decided to re-up now that we are about 3.5 adults at home most evenings. The mental load of not thinking about meals is a huge relief. Well I do need to get minion #3 from work and then it will be bed time. Feeling less sleep deprived and I would prefer continuing that trend into next week. Obligatory photo of Maple posing durning nap time…ignore the fluff of the stuffy she unstuffed. 5 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Harriet Posted September 17 Report Share Posted September 17 Being the main breadwinner and the main carer/housemaker sounds like... a lot. Good luck with your plan to let go, let the minions flap a bit by themselves, and find your power and free time. It sounds very, very worth doing. 3 Quote Let cheese and oxen and mead crowd out our secret desires for power and domination - Harriet the Viking Just be bold, fluid and unapologetic, not small, hairy and indecisive - Harriet the Artist You can absorb me! - Harriet the Contextless Guru Link to comment
Whisper Posted September 17 Report Share Posted September 17 On 9/15/2024 at 6:43 PM, Sepherina said: Obligatory photo of Maple posing durning nap time…ignore the fluff of the stuffy she unstuffed. I admire her dedication to perfection by making sure it has the exact right amount of fluff inside it. 1 Quote We are not sinners trespassing in the garden of an angry God. We are prodigals come home; fully seen and deeply loved. Spoiler Unused for now, Quest Log: Not Silence in the Library but a Whisper in the Academy Link to comment
Sepherina Posted September 19 Author Report Share Posted September 19 On 9/17/2024 at 7:17 AM, Harriet said: Being the main breadwinner and the main carer/housemaker sounds like... a lot. Good luck with your plan to let go, let the minions flap a bit by themselves, and find your power and free time. It sounds very, very worth doing. It is a lot and really unnecessary now. On 9/17/2024 at 11:33 AM, Whisper said: I admire her dedication to perfection by making sure it has the exact right amount of fluff inside it. She does have surgical precision on such things. Too bad they don’t let dogs be doctors. I have been in a full energy deficit this week. My eating is all over the board, sleep is sucky and I just ache overall. Work is also mentally exhausting. Refusing to do things and outright asking others to pick up the slack is helping, but even this morning after a full night of fitful sleep, I am incredibly fatigued. I need some extended time off to recharge. I am not sure one day is going to cut it or even a long weekend. The other side of that coin is also taking time off from things at home. In the past that has meant taking a vacation alone to just get away, but money is tight with two kids in college and with only one full income and some extra that comes in when the hubs has work, I did decide to step away from GM’ing our biweekly Eberron sessions until Jan 2025. I am burnt out in this space after running the table for almost 2.5 years. The group was cool with this and it sounds like a few of them will pick up an either a prior campaign or some one-shots to run. I may or may not join them. I want to, but I also want to recharge. I also want to play other things rather than D&D. Considering things like Daggerheart, Pathfinder or maybe City of Mists. I want to expand my horizons and game play. Right now the only game commitment I have while on break is our biweekly Scum and Villainy sessions. Lastly I am really just looking forward to some downtime and today I am going to look at my work calendar and see where I can squeeze several short recharges in. I hope today you also find time to recharge ? 4 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Artemis Prime Posted September 19 Report Share Posted September 19 Taking a DMing break sounds wise. It's easy to feel like it is your responsibility to keep the table going, but it really isn't and I'm glad your players are being cool about it. I've also been eyeing up some other systems. So many games, so little time! 2 Quote "For God did not give us a spirit of fear; but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline". - 2 Timothy 1:7 "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." -Gandalf Link to comment
Sepherina Posted September 24 Author Report Share Posted September 24 On 9/19/2024 at 5:07 PM, Artemis Prime said: Taking a DMing break sounds wise. It's easy to feel like it is your responsibility to keep the table going, but it really isn't and I'm glad your players are being cool about it. I've also been eyeing up some other systems. So many games, so little time! Agreed….so many things I want to play but so little time. Just a quick check in here today before work gets under way. Slogging through this work project is eating up a lot of my spare energy and time. I am trying to keep this manageable by not spending more than 90 minutes, 3 times a week working late. The minions and the hubs haven’t really bugged to much about meals or other things, and are usually pretty amicable when I point out a task that needs to be done that they can do. Reading Steve’s newsletter last night about not over complicating things was really helpful. I really have a tendency to make things more complex than I need too….BUT. Right now I don’t need a complex process of being healthy. I just need to stay the course by getting to bed on time, eating decently healthy meals, staying hydrated and making time for my mental and physical health. Thanks for following and I hope today you find the balance between complexity and simplicity. 3 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
Sovalis Posted September 28 Report Share Posted September 28 I feel you on needing to curate my downtime lately, the past two weeks have been challenging. I hope you are finding that space and breath that you need. ❤️ (Also, Daggerheart, hell yes!!) 1 Quote Past Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16 Current Challenge: #17 “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment
Sepherina Posted October 3 Author Report Share Posted October 3 On 9/28/2024 at 1:13 AM, Sovalis said: I feel you on needing to curate my downtime lately, the past two weeks have been challenging. I hope you are finding that space and breath that you need. ❤️ (Also, Daggerheart, hell yes!!) Definitely leaning hard into finding space to decompress and not rush. Hi everyone. I have been taking rest very very seriously. And not doing anything I don’t absolutely have to do or don’t want to do. Gym days are still happening and I am trying to be more mindful while I am there. I have also added my shoulder and neck exercises back in as all the hours at my work desk are aggravating it. And for meals I am just staying the course so I don’t have to expend any extra mental energy. During this period of “rest” I am slowly integrating two new practices to help balance my mental load. I am a glutton for information/random readings, and I have way too many hobbies and side projects. I finished “Build a Second Brain” and have implemented the PARA (Project/Areas/Resources/Archive) and CODE (Capture/Organize/Distill/Express) methodologies in both my work and personal life. So far it has allowed me to focus and carve away things that are not important and feel less stressed at the volume of random garbage that enters my purview. The second practice is actually implementing a Bujo. I bit the bullet (pun intended) and bought an actual Bullet Journal and borrowed the book from the library. So far I am on my second week ( and first month) of just following the process. I can say with some confidence so far that it has allowed me to actually think about what I add to my daily personal and work life. It has also led me to really think about what to add back after this time of rest and what to really focus on. I didn’t really have this in past attempts and rather just used it as a tracker. I may implement that later on a collections page for certain things, but for now I am focusing hard on what is taking up all my mental and physical and emotional energy. Some things I have done in my down time. Spoiler I have started harvesting the remaining items in our garden (as well as seeds). Next weekend we are pulling out everything except the blueberries in the new beds and putting in a bunch of compost that we will then layer with leaves once the two maples in our yard drop them (probably more like early-mid Nov). Fig cuttings for next year’s garden. These were just twigs a few weeks ago and now they are putting on growth. Candied Nasturtiums - Thinking of using to practice sketching later Sour dough in loaf pans And the true reason why everyone is here. 3 1 Quote “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” -Nightbirde “Dreams do not come true all by themselves. They are nourished by the bounty of hard work” -Unknown Disney Imagineer 2024 Word Svastha: Standing in One’s Own Power Current Challenge: Sepherina Focuses Prior Challenges Spoiler Sepherina: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 , #6 , #7 , #8 , #9, #10, #11, #12, ,#13, #14, #15, #16, #17 Avery The Patient: #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , #5 Link to comment
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