Mental health is just as important as physical fitness. There are two sides to mental health, and both are equally important: what weighs heavily on your mind and what puts wind in your sails.

Many of us share common mental stressors – time, money, work, emotions, and relationships. Ironically it can be too little or too much of each of these that causes stress. While we are never going to eliminate stress, we can address what do we do to manage it and its affect on our health.

As many humans as exist in the world, there exists as many combinations of answers to mental health concerns. For most diagnosis, medication and talk therapy has been proven to be the best practice. I am not trained as a mental health professional in any way. The information provided here is simply to be a resource for conversations about what has worked to help manage the stressors above to bring joy and lightness to my life and to hear what works for other. To make the daily grind something not just palatable, but something we can look forward too. Some of these ideas might be meditation, learning, or hobbies.

Eye of the Storm: A Time to Rest

The world is exhausting for me right now. How about you? I am tired. I need to rest. And it is only Tuesday…

Last Friday after reading the headlines and a short scroll through Facebook, it was just overwhelming. No matter what the topic, it was seething with hate from both sides:

  • Racism
  • Pandemic
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Unemployment

The fact that it had rained for 10 of the last 13 days did not help.

So I went to back to bed after breakfast. It was too much. I had to start my day over again after staring at the wall for quite some time.

It helped, but that is not a sustainable plan. As a general rule, I cannot just throw out my calendar and go to bed. One of the interesting things is that “doing nothing” can be incredibly exhausting. There is a lot of science behind this that we will get into later, but here is a great summary. It can be crazy making, but don’t gaslight yourself if you are doing less and feeling it more.

Let’s keep it simple. Back to the basics!

Sustainable Productivity suggests the basics are split into three categories:

  • Health and Fitness
  • Mental Well-being
  • Physical Surroundings

In case you have been on the struggle bus along with me, I thought I would share a few tips that I found helpful. This weekend here are a few things I did this weekend to manage my heebie-jeebies.

Health and Fitness

1 – Get outside

Anytime spent in nature is therapeutic for me. What this looked like this weekend was reading on the porch, crafting on the porch, eating meals on the porch… See a theme?

2 – Sweat equity

Getting my sweat on clears my head and calms me down. These days that looks mostly like time on my road bike.

Mental Well-being

1 – Meditation

NO! KEEP READING! This is sitting quietly and trying to clear my brain. I have no special clothes and I don’t sit cross legged on the floor. I don’t have music or incense. I fight monkey mind and breathe. For 12 minutes.

2 – Hobbies

I am mainly focusing on reading and crafting right now for my hobbies. I had a hard time reading at the start of quarantine, but have found some great reads lately. Also, by using the supplies that I already had around the house for crafting, I have been able to tackle some projects that have been on my to do list for quite some time.

Physical Environment

1 – Clutter

This weekend I put away some glasses that we love and represent fond memories, but we don’t use on a daily basis. I have been putting off dusting because I am SO TIRED of moving these glasses. When I packed them up, it created empty space that brought so much more joy that I had expected!

2 – Digital garbage

Google has been flashing a warning at me for MONTHS to clear out files or buy more storage. I finally sat down and did some clean up. I deleted almost 15 GB of digital clutter from Gmail and Google Drive. Not only did it free up time, but saved me money!

Your turn – where can you make some changes to create a more sustainable life? You might have an overall feeling of blah, but don’t know what is causing it. If this is you, I would like to invite you to use the Sustainability Checklist for a few days to help identify what is and is not working for you. 

You can also join me on Facebook to chat more in a group. You are not alone. We can do hard things!

By |2020-06-19T16:50:12-04:00June 2nd, 2020|Mental Well-being|0 Comments

Verity by Colleen Hoover

This book was SO DANG CREEPY, and I loved every second of it!

“Find what you love and let it kill you.”

Charles Bukowski

These. People. Are. Nutso. 

I somewhat called the twist, but the way it played out and the ambiguity was just perfect. I did a deep dive into a Facebook page that the author started [search Verity Discussion Group]. The conversations and theories are so good. I strongly recommend joining when you finish reading this book.

Verity Colleen Hoover

I do have two points of warning:

  1. There are some sexy times in this book. It is what is referred to as “open door romance.” If this is not your jam, you can skim past them and still have a good reading experience.
  2. Some people cannot read about anything bad happening to kids. If this is you, avoid this book. It is not a spoiler to tell you both twin girls die. That is part revealed in the first chapter or two. But the book goes over this ground quite a bit so consider yourself warned.

You might want to borrow it from Kindle Unlimited. Currently there is a free promotion. Verity was published December 2018 so there may not be a super long wait at the library either.

If you do choose to read this, I’d love it if you would come back here and let me know what you think!

By |2020-05-30T19:40:16-04:00May 30th, 2020|Mental Well-being|0 Comments

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Alert! 5-star book! Alert!

Get out your library cards!

Alert
Alert! 5-start book you need to read right now!

Last summer I found The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin in a Free Little Library. While I love these stumbling across every one of these bookish delights, it is rare that I find a book from my TBR. Needless to say I was super excited to grab this ditty.

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I loved this book SO STINKING MUCH. I purposely slowed down so I could avoid finishing it. Now I cannot remove it from my nightstand because I cannot let it be over. 

I love a crusty curmudgeon (think Ove or Britt-Marie). I love books. I love book stores. I love a sad ending. I love dry wit. THEN THIS BOOK COMBINED ALL OF THEM. I swooned.

I mean listen to this description of AJ’s feelings of love:

“… slightly intolerable bubbling inside of him. He wants to laugh out loud or punch a wall. He feels drunk or at least carbonated. Insane. At first, he thinks this is happiness, but then he determines it’s love. ‘Fucking love,’ he thinks. ‘What a bother.’ It’s completely gotten in the way of his plan to drink himself to death, to drive his business to ruin. The most annoying thing about it is that once a person gives a shit about this, he finds he has to start going a shit about everything.”

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, p. 76

How do you not love this?! You do? Great – go get it!

Bonus – I learned a new word. Moue. Which according to Dictionary.com means, “A pouting expression used to convey annoyance or distaste.” You better believe moue will be used in a stern parental manner within the week!

Wait… why are you still reading this? Read this in a moue tone: Go get this book!

By |2020-05-21T17:48:50-04:00May 21st, 2020|Mental Well-being|0 Comments

Eye of the Storm – Come Back Stronger

About five years ago I had 2 orthopedic surgeries back to back and was in a boot for over 3 months. Translation: No exercise.

We sold our house, but could not settle on a new one to buy so we moved into an apartment. Translation: No gardening.

Since I could not drive because of the boot, I worked remotely for 12 weeks. From the uncomfortable rented couch while Bixby had a desk set up in our bedroom (see previous apartment woes) about 15 feet away. Translation: No alone time.

Considering all of the above we naturally thought it was the perfect time to get a puppy. Translation: No quiet.

Puppy
Excitement on Lucille’s “Gotcha Day” – little did I know the energy a puppy took!

My mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law came to the rescue with a bedside garden. This kit was really dummy proof, but I ignored that fact and really felt accomplished when this amaryllis bloomed to life.

amaryllis
The bedside garden that saved my sanity (and probably my marriage, if I am honest).

Later that year we moved into our new home. I decided to just observe the new yard for the first year to see what I was dealing with before starting to plant much. Plus there was not a lot of free time – puppies, am I right?! The amaryllis stayed on my night stand.

The next year I planted it in the yard and nothing happened. I was pretty sure I killed it. Never in my life did I think it would come back stronger. And then, though the magic of Mother Nature, the amaryllis came back with a vengeance. A glorious, rich red vengeance.

amaryllis - come back stronger
That same bedside amaryllis living her best life outside in the garden today.

I have thought of this often this year. 2020 has been difficult to say the least. But we can learn from Nature.

  1. Growth that you are not even aware of can be happening underneath, out of sight.
  2. There is a difference between death and dormancy.
  3. Sometimes what shows up after that dormancy is a truer version of the original.
  4. A season of rest will help us come back stronger.

Are you in a hard season right now? That season might be a Tuesday, COVID-19 quarantine, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, or all of these wrapped together in a neat package called 2020.

I would like to suggest you take a moment to breathe and think about a time when all seemed lost and gone only to have it flourish even better than before.

Like Fawkes in the Harry Potter series, sometimes we have to go through the ugly phase in order to rise from the ashes better than before.

Like the amaryllis in my garden, sometimes we have to be dormant for a time to come back stronger and more beautiful.

By |2020-05-16T09:40:24-04:00May 19th, 2020|Mental Well-being|0 Comments

Eye of the Storm – The Benefit of Rituals

Happy Tuesday! Let’s take a coffee break for a moment while we rest in the eye of the storm shall we?

I made it through 2 Masters degrees without coffee. There was no new mom sleep deprivation that needed an afternoon caffeine boost; the kids were too old for afternoon naps when Bixby and I met. Diet Coke is usually my caffeine of choice.

Then Bixby and I spent a week in Seattle and BOOM – I love lattes.

coffee mug
Coffee mugs were custom made for us by LouLou Belle Pottery.

The problem is that I only like coffee from 1 or 2 places in Seattle, certain Starbucks in Greensboro, and of course – the latte Bixby makes for me. I think that is pretty much the definition of high maintenance.

coffee break
High maintenance is delicious!

The benefits of coffee are endlessly documented. I even drink it with whole milk to bump up the nutrients in a non-processed way.

But my favorite part of my coffee break is my barista. Since I am so picky, I generally only have coffee at home. When Bixby brings my coffee to me, he uses the swirls of the milk as a Rorschach test to pretend he is fancy enough to put pictures in my coffee. Read: he make shit up about the what he has swirled with the milk. And he nails it every time.

Here is Sunday’s coffee. Clearly the MSU Spartan in my coffee, right?! He is so talented.

It is such a small part of the day, but I really look forward to it. Small rituals are important to relationships. Strong relationships contribute to our mental well-being. Considering mental well-being is one of the three pillars to a sustainably productive life, this coffee break is more essential than ever!

Let’s get a refill then make it a Terrific Tuesday!

By |2020-05-13T09:42:34-04:00May 12th, 2020|Mental Well-being|0 Comments

Welcome to the Eye of the Storm

In a hurricane, the eye is the place to take a breath, get a reprieve. Before the rest of the shit hits the fan. Living in a hurricane is not sustainably productive – no one can live continually in fight / flight / freeze. Eventually your body will stop you.

hurricane
Live footage of my Tuesday.
Not really, more like a Florida weather report.

We cannot stop the hurricane, but we can look for the eye. We can pause in the eye. We can create more space in the eye. Not just during the hurricane that is COVID-19, but the hurricane that is life sometimes.

That is what my intention is for this weekly series. Here is my vision:

  1. Scheduled. Posts will release on Tuesdays because as mentioned before – Tuesday sucks. This also will give us something to look forward to. According to research on happiness, people enjoy looking ahead much more than looking back. The joy of anticipation will be part of our reprieve.
  2. Brief. Because seriously – we should be working, studying, looking for a job, washing our hands, etc. Ain’t nobody got time for a long read.
  3. Collaborative. Together we are better. Yes, I am an introvert, but I have come to appreciate the value of having a tribe. If you have something that brightens your day, helps you stop and take a breath, or just fills your tank – send it to me!

For today, I will go first. Let’s pause in the eye, bring the breath down into our body and calm the chaos in our minds. Let’s do the needful to make a Sustainable You!

phlox
This is the phlox that is in a giant patch at the end of my driveway. It blooms for about 2 months every spring. I love it because it is like a welcoming beacon whenever we return home!
By |2020-04-30T09:58:15-04:00May 5th, 2020|Mental Well-being|0 Comments

Tuesday Tenderness

Just wanted to drop in quickly to share this view from a recent bike ride – a little nature to soften the sting of this Tuesday. I wish I could somehow share the amazing smell of these Wisteria blooms. It was such a treat to roll under a small tunnel of them on a recent ride. I had to pull over and snap a couple pictures.

By |2020-04-26T20:49:03-04:00April 28th, 2020|Mental Well-being|0 Comments

Spiders + Flying Cars = Sanctuary?

Like many people, focus has been hard for me lately. I have not been able to read very much during the COVID19 pandemic. Audiobooks seem to work, but there is always a long wait for me to borrow these from the library. I currently have a seven month wait for American Dirt. Waiting that long for a book isn’t what I would call productive reading.

But in the last 6 weeks or so I find myself chafing against needing to be productive all the time. This is what I love about the concept of SUSTAINABLE productivity. What is the smallest part I can do? Even if it is only not moving backwards – that is progress. It is not always hard charging forward, it is finding the next right step, however gentle it needs to be.

I have found rereading Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets to be soothing though. I started going through the series again after I found the podcast, Harry Potter and The Sacred Text. This podcast will be familiar to those of you who have been subscribers for awhile since I wrote about Book 1, Chapter 2 resonating with me last year.

Sanctuary: Aragog (Book 2, Chapter 15)

In this chapter, Harry and Ron meet Argog, the giant spider. We learn Hagrid gave Argog sanctuary in the Forbidden Forest after hatching Argog in a cupboard. But although, Argog loves Hagrid, he does not protect Harry and Ron from the other spiders and the boys make a run for it. The flying car zooms in to take the boys back to the sanctuary of Hogwarts and the Gryffindor common room. These are certainly two very different forms of sanctuary.

Harry Potter Sacred Text

I love the idea of sanctuary. A place of refuge or safety. As discussed in this episode of the podcast, it is a place usually silent. A place where I can make room to hear more from the universe. Nature is a significant sanctuary for me. In the stress of isolation and social distancing, I try to spend some time outside every day. If simply being outside does not slow down my monkey mind, I look try to slow down and use my senses to engage more in my surroundings.

  • I see beautiful spring flowers.
  • I smell newly cut grass.
  • I feel the breeze on my face.
  • I taste the fresh air as I take a deep breath.
  • I hear the chirping birds.
lavender field
I only wish this was my yard. But it was a sanctuary for sure.
This is Jardin du Soleil – a lavender farm in Sequim, WA that we visited on vacation in 2018.

Cozy is definitely a requirement for a sanctuary for me. I need to be comfortable. Burrowed in the covers in bed is another favorite sanctuary.

  • I feel the softness of my flannel pajamas.
  • I hear the sound of Lucille snoring while she naps next to me.
  • I see my favorite things around my bedroom – certain books and photos, especially.
One of my favorite sanctuaries is cuddling with Lucille and a book.

Do you have a favorite sanctuary? How are you keeping your mind from spinning out? If not, how do you bring your self back when needed?

By |2020-06-17T17:44:48-04:00April 26th, 2020|Mental Well-being|0 Comments

Soothing My Terrible Tuesdays

I know most people hate Mondays. Not me.

From the movie Office Space via SayingImages.com

On Monday I still have the buffer of coming off the weekend. It’s only been 1 day at the office, its all good!

Tuesday though. The wheels fall off for me on Tuesday. All the stored up juju from the weekend is long gone. Yet Friday is f a a a a r away.

If you have been around here for a minute, you know that nature boosts my juju. I am going to start to post a little mood booster on Tuesdays. This is where a physical environment is essential to making a life that is sustainably productive. If I have things in my space that I love and think are beautiful, it reduces stress and increases happiness!

Azalea
Azalea from our backyard. It is really showing off this year. Not sure what I did wrong in previous years when it did not bloom at all, but it is going gang busters now!

Distractions!

Let’s talk about creating a sustainable pace of life during quarantine. I have heard from friends who cry daily. Other friends are canning food and sewing supplies like it is end of times. Some friends are considered essential and work in a contagious disease hospital dedicated to COVID19 patients daily. Some friends have their head in the sand and are going on vacation.

I am none of these and a bit of each of these. I have cleaned out the junk drawer, napped on my lunch break, spent an hour writing one work email because words would not come, sewn masks, and zoned out with garbage media. All in the same day. And this is ok. I am not team “choose joy all the time” because sometimes it just sucks right now. Feel your feelings – even the yucky ones. If you keep shoving them down, they will come out in weird ways eventually.

So in this post I want you to bring you a few things that have been keeping me company / distracting me as I try to create a sustainably productive pandemic pace of life. I refuse to call this “new normal” because it won’t be like this forever. But I wanted to share a few things I am loving right now.

Watch – Tiger King

Like many people in the country, I cannot get enough of this train wreck. I watched the whole Netflix series in a day, then did a deep dive on John’s teeth. I was feeling sad I did not pace myself.

John Finlay Tiger King
Just a preview of the delight that is Tiger King

Then my favorite podcast announced that they were doing a recap of each episode. Full disclosure – I did have to become a Patreon supporter. This was not a huge barrier for me because I used to be a Patreon supporter, but cancelled when Patreon changed their financial structure. Plus this content is 100% worth ANY PRICE.

Read – Know My Name

This was a 5-star book I could not put down. I read this book as an audio-book. It is always a bonus for me when the book is read by author, which this one was.

Know My Name should be required reading for all high school and college students. Yes, kids should read it twice. The topic is this important.

“…when you cannot differentiate the statements of the President of the US and a 19 year old rapist…

Paraphrasing a sentence from the book that was like a kick in the gut for me.

This is not ok.

And the way the author was able to access, then verbalize, her experience is incredible. Especially for someone as young as she is.

Do – Cycling

I feel like I have been rehabbing my knee forever. Although I have been on my bike in the last 18 months, it has really just been in the neighborhood and the next street over. I wanted to stay close to home in case my knee wasn’t feeling as strong as I thought it was.

This week I finally ventured out onto the big, wide world. It was so great to do a familiar loop, and I felt strong. My average speed was higher than usual because I did not have to slow down for cul de sacs and so many stop signs. My route included a nice downhill too – I was able to spot over 33 mph on the computer at one point!

While going faster felt great, the best part was I out rode the crabbiness that hung over me all day that day. As much as a dream self-isolation is for this introvert, the uncertainty of the world today has been weighing heavily on me. How long will this last? What does it mean for my job? Why am I not learning a foreign language in all this “downtime?” I get bogged down and crabby.

These distractions have been great to alleviate some of the grumpies for me. I hope they help you too. Feel free to jump in with what is distracting you too!

By |2020-04-13T18:57:56-04:00April 13th, 2020|Health & Fitness, Mental Well-being|0 Comments
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