Lockdown
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Returning To Writing After a Hiatus
In August 2020 I made the painful, but necessary, decision to take a break from blogging. I usually love to write, and this labour of love was one of my biggest hobbies. But by this point it had become stressful, and tiring, and just another thing on my to-do list that I couldn’t keep up with. Did the pandemic have an impact? It’s hard to say. All I know is that I was spending every day preoccupied with page views and how to increase them, so much so that it sucked the joy out of writing completely. It was supposed to be a short break, a month or two tops,…
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New Year, New Me (Or Not)
This time last year I was writing about how I’ve been moving away from New Year’s resolutions and trying to just set goals and intentions instead. Looking back on these goals though I don’t think I managed to properly achieve any of them! However, with the state this year has been I don’t think I can be too hard on myself about that, as none of us could have predicted the turn things have taken. I have worked on some things this year though that I am hoping to continue into the next 12 months. I still stand by my view that New Year’s resolutions are not a way to…
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6 things to be grateful for from 2020
I am still in disbelief at the sheer madness that was 2020, and I am sure many of you are as well. It’s been completely unpredictable, messy, and just plain difficult. But as it is FINALLY over I am trying to spend some time looking for the good amongst the bad, and that’s where I came up with my list of things to be grateful for in 2020. This is absolutely not a ‘what I’ve achieved last year post’, as to be honest my greatest achievement was simply getting to the end of it in one piece. And if that’s all you’ve managed as well then please know that is…
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25 Positive Affirmations for Anxiety
This isn’t the first time I have written about, and shared, positive affirmations with you. I truly believe in their power, and today I wanted to share with you my best positive affirmations for anxiety. Stating the obvious here but living with anxiety every day isn’t fun. In fact personally mine has become a hundred times worse during lockdown. And while the world around us has changed, as well as the level of support, being able to use self affirmations is something that remains constant. It’s NEVER going to change. They will ALWAYS be there for us. We can at least take some solace in that. I’m in no way…
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Weekly Substitute Challenge
Before I get into talking about my weekly substitute challenge I want to make something clear. However you want or need to spend this lockdown period is fine. If you are spending this time resting, managing the many emotions you are experiencing and just trying to survive, that’s good! There’s no blueprint for how this time is to be spent. No right or wrong way to do this. This is just about a way I am coping and surviving, and it’s in no way a comment on how you should spend this time. If it inspires you to do something similar then great, but if it feels daunting and unhelpful…
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5 things I’ve learned from yoga
Living with ME/CFS comes with a long list of trials and challenges to deal with on a daily basis. Among them is the inability to exercise normally. Unfortunately, along with the sheer exhaustion it brings, another symptom is post exertional malaise. Put simply, the worsening of symptoms due to physical activity. For me, I find it quite difficult to predict, but I know one thing that causes it every time – exercise. Going for a run (or even a walk), doing Zumba, tennis, literally any form of cardio is enough to make me completely unable to function the next day. My body just shuts down, even moving takes too much…
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Love Languages: Ways to Say ‘I Love You’ Without Words
If you’re not familiar with the 5 love languages, I really advise you to look them up. Learning the ways I feel most loved has really opened my eyes, and helped me understand myself in a way I never had before. In short, love languages are the ways we can give and receive love from others. Not just romantic partners, but everyone. Each of us will have a couple of love languages that are most important to us – the ways we feel love the most. For me, my primary love language is words of affirmation. I feel most loved when someone tells me they love me. As someone who…
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Lockdown Silver Linings
These are pretty unusual and stressful times we are living in right now. Tensions and emotions are running high, and no one really knows what to do or how to feel. Looking around the world right there is so much going on, so much to be worried or scared about, so much negativity. But there are also a lot of positives. Whether it be the clap for carers movement, the chance to try new things or simply spending time with family, I’m sure every one of us has at least one thing to be grateful for during this time. I’m a big fan of this ‘Lockdown Silver Linings’ tag. It’s…
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Lockdown Emotions: It’s okay not to be okay right now
The time we are in right now is strange. I feel like I’m in an alternate universe, where everything is reversed. Each day I sink further away from reality and my emotions just don’t know what to make of it. Let me tell you about today. Today when I logged onto my work PC I noticed I wasn’t connected to our network drive. Other people were having the same issue but were able to resolve it easily. My issue was not so simple. I tried disconnecting and reconnecting. I tried restarting my computer, twice. I tried disconnecting and restarting my computer before reconnecting. Nothing worked. If we were in the…
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How to survive working from home
Working from home full time is not something I ever aniticpated doing. Once upon a time it was a dream I’d had, so I could work full time alongside my chronic illness (who knew it was actually possible?). However once I found a job I loved, it was a lot easier to get myself into the office every day, even when I am exhausted. Now, like many of you, I have been thrown into the wonderful world of working from home, and just being stuck at home in general – although it’s not that much of a change for me. But it is a struggle. I’ve found it difficult, strange,…
