I had a plan for blogging this year.
It all started with my idea for a book. Then it expanded to needing a regiment to write consistently on a topic that interests me and intersects with much of what I do during my day. Then as a New Year’s Resolution, sitting in Maine watching the sun rise, I made a commitment to myself, and to you to publish weekly, get my writing legs and share my thoughts on wellness and well being with the “world”. This is certainly in an attempt to see if I have what it takes to write a book. Do I have the grit and the resiliency? Do I have the time? How the heck am I going to do that? (There goes my inner critic again).
When I think about it, it is a little scary to put myself out here like this. (Inner critic be damned, I am doing it anyway!!!).
When I think about not writing on a weekend because I am tired, feel overwhelmed or feel as if I don’t have a single thing to write about, I remind myself of my commitment and I review my old notes for inspiration!
This week, I got to the weekend and I was exhausted. Work has been long and difficult, filled with emotions and extra presentations and stress. I knew I had the Farm Store and Bakery work ahead of me on Saturday and I wasn’t sure I had it in me. I tried to go to bed early on Friday night, just to give myself a little bit of an edge in the morning. I donned tight, knee high compression athletic socks in the morning, put on my baking shoes and got to work. Jason and I finished the baking in record time this week, we had time to spare to put together our new set up at the Farm Store, and we eased into the morning with grace. Despite the rain, the customers came, some new ones in fact! We were thrilled that our new products were drawing in such a response. And of course, all the food sold!
The afternoon was filled with a play date for Ella, Jason falling asleep mid stretch on the yoga mat and myself, well I rested with my feet up, while crocheting of course (one must try to do something you love everyday!).
So, back to reviewing my notes and journaling for inspiration! I went back to my original meanderings back in the New Year in Maine. I had written an entire years worth of ideas, bundled by month so that I had a main topic for the month with four potential posts about the topic. I realized that I had followed the template pretty well until we went on our April vacation. Then, things apparently got away from me. I went rouge if you will. But, I noticed it was working.
So, what to write about this week. After the long week at work, and the long morning baking and selling at the Farm Store I normally need to relax and put my feet up in the afternoon, eat a solid healthy lunch and drink a lot of water. Usually my mind wanders to the blog of the week, thinking about the reading I have done this week, thinking about the great chats with customers at the Farm Store. I let my mind wander. Usually there are some great ideas hopping around. My mind is free from my day job, I’ve decompressed from that, which allows my mind to focus on other things- like trying new receipes or thinking about new products for the Farm Store. Jason, Ella and I had a great conversation about what to do next for the farm store- one of many I am sure- we usually bat around ideas for a while. It’s fun!
So this week, my gut and heart are drawing me to the theme of “How does she do it?”. Many people ask this very question of me at the Farm Store. I know I have touched upon it quite often in my blog, it is one of the central themes of why I work so hard on my wellness. If I didn’t pay attention to myself and take care of myself, then I wouldn’t be able to do everything that I/we do.
I will say one of the most important things, that I have mostly learned from Jason is rejuvenation. In order to do all that I/we do, I really need to take the time to recover. That is not easy for me. I don’t like sitting still and not doing anything, but let me tell you, recovery in the form of rejuvenation and relaxation is essential to being able to show up everyday and give the level of performance that my demanding day job requires and that owning your own business requires.
Recovery also requires activity. It includes stretching, maybe using red light or a sauna. It means meditation and letting your mind get a break. It may even mean some active organizing so that you can clear a space in order to be creative. I did that yesterday too. I had been meaning to organize my yarn, purchased new bins and everything, but just hadn’t gotten to it. Getting down to it yesterday afternoon, since it was raining anyway, was a great way to not only clear a space, but also clear my mind and get excited about new crochet projects. It was fun to sort through the yarn, organize it by color and weight and really see what I have. Many new projects floated through my mind, and it got my creative juices flowing!
You can see from my day yesterday that I stacked quite a few wellbeing tactics. I rested, I rejuvenated by utilizing active recovery, I did something that I love (crocheting), I got my creative juices flowing (flow) and I took care of my body by ensuring adequate hydration, a good lunch, compression socks for my tired legs and a little bit of a rest with my feet up.
Is that all it takes to do all that we do? How do I exactly do it all? I haven’t quite figured that out yet, but this blogs intention is to do just that. Am I going to stick to my schedule of blog themes? Shall I get back on track rather than meander through?
I think so! But would love to hear your feedback too.
May was the month to discuss movement and exercise. I think that I naturally shy away from this topic because I am not so good at it. Well, at least that is what my mind tells me. Here is what I do everyday, currently, I always take the stairs. I park as far away as possible so that my walk into work is long. I try to go on a walk everyday. I have a planned walk with my friend once a week. I have started to incorporate running back into my life, with a simple every other day program, starting off slow with 10 minutes, gradually building up to being able to run a 5K.
Here is what I want to do: I want to put myself on an exercise regiment that works for my work life balance, allows for the time to put into getting back into shape and makes me feel good. I want to feel good about it. I want my body to feel good.
So, now that I am back on track with the blog themes, the rest of this month will be about movement. A how to, from a very busy lady. I’ll share what works moving forward and what doesn’t. I have read a lot about exercise and how to get the most out of it, now here is my chance to really make it happen while I am telling you about it.
First things first. Finish my morning routine. Publish the blog. Enjoy some family time. Make an outside plan today since the sun is finally coming up after all that rain. Maybe I’ll formally exercise today, or maybe we will plan a hike. Either way, I will let you know. Thank you for staying on this journey with me.
Be Well,
Teresa