I wrote in my last post that I often feel like a total mish-mash of wants and goals, and that I can never seem to make up my mind what direction I really want to go in. Travel and adventure vs home and comfort is the one that I constantly seem to waver between, but never do I feel more drawn to one that when I’ve spent a long time in the other (I’m also a total ‘grass is greener’ person, I can’t help it!)
So it makes sense that now, after spending four weeks away in Bali, and prior to that having almost no free time due to wedding planning, that my feet are firmly in the ‘home’ and ‘comfort’ and ‘me time’ camp. When we touched down at Heathrow on Wednesday I had this overwhelming feeling of happiness, and of being exactly where I needed to be. Even though my dreams are filled with sunkissed skin, poolside cocktails, al fresco dinners and warm evenings, I can honestly say that Britain really does feel like home to me, and of all of the places I’ve travelled in the world, I do find the New Forest and living on the south coast of England to be pretty darned perfect. I had the same feeling of relief and comfort when we walked through the front door of our house – the smell of the candles in my office, the plumped cushions on our sofa, our mugs in the kitchen, my duck down duvet and pillows in our bedroom, just made me feel so content. As well as re-invigorating my love of home, I never seem to feel more motivated and inspired than when I’ve been away for a few weeks. There’s something about stepping out of a situation that gives me so much clarity and excitement to get back to it with a renewed sense of creativity and excitement.
Because of this, I now have a humungous list of things I want to get stuck into over the coming months. This list seems to grow by the second, and I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night thinking of new things I want to work on, and tiptoeing downstairs to get started on them! It’s so nice to feel so inspired again. Here is the list so far:
001. Work on our garden and grow yummy food, herbs and pretty things to look at {we’ve got a headstart on this as Tom’s parents spent two days weeding, planting and generally doing loads of work on our garden whilst we were away!}
002. Print more of my photos and do more in my Project Life scrapbook.
{img credit = artistic dreams}
003. Go through all of my new cookbooks and start trying more recipes and experimenting with cooking.
004. Get outstanding 35mm film developed and shoot more film.
{img credit = hitchcock blonde}
005. Organise and edit photos I haven’t been through yet – get all of my Trek America and honeymoon photos sorted and share them!
006. Redo our bathroom (big job – we want to rip it out, get new fixtures and fittings and retile it all!)
007. Reconnect with books and practices I loved but tailed off with – re-read Spirit Junkie and The Desire Map.
008. Read all of my outstanding articles on Pocket.
009. Start doing morning pages again. Every day – keep to this morning ritual.
010. Gratitude journal. EVERY DAY WITHOUT FAIL.
011. More yoga – every day if possible, but at least once a week. Go to more classes.
012. Frame our wedding photos and write all of our thank you cards.
013. Have the biggest de-clutter of my life. Get rid of clothes and shoes not worn within the last six months and electronic equipment not used. Clear out old papers and magazine. Get rid of anything not used or loved.
014. Take note of things that make me happy and do more of them. Have fresh flowers in the house. Take time to listen to birdsong. Go on evening walks. Burn candles. Take more baths. Have more chill time.
015. Catchup on my unread Bloglovin blog posts. Note and share inspiring posts. Take more time to comment.
016. Read more, share mini book reviews on blog or YouTube.
017. On that note – make more YouTube videos. Start a podcast.
018. Run in the mornings. Go to more exercise classes.
019. Catchup on the podcasts that inspire me.
020. Blog, blog, blog. Blog about wedding planning, book reviews, our honeymoon, my fitness journey, and all of the fun things I have lined up for the coming months. Be more authentic on my blog and make more time for ‘honest to blog’ posts where I share what’s been on my mind.
As you can see, the list keeps growing, and is getting pretty big! I feel so excited to get started on all of these though. Throughout the early part of the year I really felt like I lost what it was to be ‘me’, and lost my way a lot. The stress of wedding planning and hitting 30 (and worrying that I had nothing figured out) really knocked me for six, and I seemed to have no motivation or inspiration, and no time for self-care. I feel so happy that I’m now able to reconnect with all of the things that I know I love, and that make me feel good when I make time for them. This list is pretty overwhelming though, and I wonder whether I should focus on maybe one or two things to really invest time in, rather than flitting around doing a little of everything. What do you think? How do you make sure you don’t get burned out when inspiration hits again?
{PS -Sorry for the phone photos – wanted to get a post up and have been so busy since we got back that I haven’t managed to get my camera back out and take blog photos yet!)}
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