Happy New Year to you all, I sincerely hope that you have had a great time this Christmas celebrating with family and friends and that it was topped off with a smooth ‘slide’ into 2019.
As for a lot of people, the start of a new year finds me in a reflective mood and thinking back over the past year.
2018 wasn’t a bad year for us a family in a lot of ways. There were lots of good times, including holidays, visits from extended family and friends, good health and lots of time spent together as a family. One of the highlights for me has been in watching Little Miss continue to blossom into a quirky, funny, often cheeky but very fun and loveable 5 year old.
Whilst there were lots of good times, like any year, 2018 had its ups and downs. In February I came off the antidepressants I had been on for over a year and with the help of exercise, yoga, meditation and positive thinking (wherever and whenever possible!!) I continue to be antidepressant free. Although no longer reliant on the ‘happy pills’ I am not afraid to admit that I still struggle on a regular basis. I have learned that my brain can no longer cope with multitasking and I get stressed very easily, even by the silliest of things. All it takes is a few minor things to go wrong or for someone to tell me of something else I should have done or need to do and I begin to feel as if I have the weight of the world on my shoulders or an insurmountable mountain to climb. In reality all I need to do is focus on one thing at a time and block out all the other things that can wait or are of less importance. With November and December being such busy months both at work and at home in preparation for Christmas, with the addition of the dark nights drawing in, things did get on top of me, hence the lack of blog posts. I just kept plodding on, one day at a time, working my way through things that needed doing and clinging on to the knowledge that with Christmas comes time with family and time to recharge the batteries.
Over the Christmas period with time to reflect, I got to thinking about how I could make life easier and more pleasurable (for both me and my family…a stressed and anxious Karen is a very snappy and uptight Karen who takes things out on her nearest and dearest) and so that I experience less of these times where I feel as though I am hurtling from one thing to another without time to breathe and without ever truly being ‘in the moment.’
The word that came to me was ‘streamlining.’ I feel that I need to make my life more streamlined, to strip away things that burden me. So for me 2019 is going to be all about streamlining. I’m not sure exactly where this is going to take me but I’m going to start with looking at my finances, possessions and how I spend my time. The first thing I am going to look at is my crafty stuff. At the moment we are in the process of decorating the attic room, which, up until November was my stepsons room but since he has moved out is to become my new craft room or as I like to call it, due to its size… my craft ‘studio.’ Every box that goes into the craft studio is going to be sorted through and anything that I’m not likely to make use of is going to be disposed of or given away. No longer will I keep on to anything ‘just in case’ or simply because someone gave it to me. I will try to keep you posted with regular updates of my streamlining and of course will show you the craft studio once its all up and running.
Wish me luck
Karen x x
