Years ago I read the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. In it, she made two lists of statements, of truths, that she lived by. She called them the "Twelve Commandments" and the "Secrets of Adulthood." They contained things like, "Be Gretchen", "Enjoy the process", and "Bring a sweater." These lists felt really important to me, so ever since then, I've been compiling my own lists of learnings to remind myself of what works in life, and what doesn't.
A few weeks ago, my boyfriend, Matt, and I celebrated my birthday with a staycation in our own city. We spent two nights in a hotel, wandered around the neighbourhood, and went out dancing. Friday night we were as excited as we would be for a real vacation, and Sunday I felt relaxed and content, if reluctant to leave our giant hotel bed and amazing view. The joy of staycationning in your own city is that you can do it any time, without any of the hassle (and a lot of the expense) of going out of town, but it still gives that feeling that something special is happening.
I spend a lot of my time working on feeling good. I work on my anxiety, make room for what I love, make sure I eat right and get enough sleep and exercise. And, as a result, my life is pretty good right now. I have time to do what I enjoy, I have an amazing relationship, close friendships, and I consider myself pretty darn lucky. But I know I can do better than good. The only thing getting in my way is my fear of being uncomfortable. I'm learning that the only way for me to make those things happen is to do things that don't feel so good, to do things that I'm afraid of, and to keep stepping beyond what feels safe and comfortable.
You may or may not have noticed, but I'm a bit of a self-help addict. This week, I'm sharing with you some useful self-help tidbits I've come across on the internet. A lot of these writers are people I go to when I'm stressed, and I pull from them when I'm trying out new techniques to feel better and be more creative. If you want to make the most of your creativity, you gotta take care of yourself. Here are some ideas. Enjoy!
I'm going to tell you something you might not agree with. It might not make sense to you. But I wholeheartedly believe that it's true.The way we see ourselves, our identities, the situations we find ourselves in, and the emotions we experience, are all a result of the stories that we tell about ourselves and our lives.
One of the biggest obstacles to my creativity is dealing with heavy emotions like anxiety. As a result, I've probably spent more energy on figuring out how to feel better than I have on anything else. If you're a creative person, and especially if you're struggling to tap into your creativity, you probably find that your emotions can get in the way as well. Today I'm sharing what I do when negativity and anxiety take hold.
If you're like me, you've already started to see your New Years resolutions slip away from you. Things aren't going quite the way you imagined they would and you're starting to wonder if you'll ever make it work. I find that I need to remind myself of what I know to be true regularly to keep me on track. Thinking about these things reminds me of how far I've come and gives me confidence to push forward.
I have relatives that live in California and every time I talk to them they try to convince me to come live there. The main draw, in their eyes, is the perpetually mild weather. Who wouldn't want to live in a place that's sunny with an average of 20°C all year long? I wouldn't. I live in a city that spends almost half the year under snow. And I love it.
