Hello again.
Woops I fell out of bloggersphere for the third time, but now I am (hopefully) back for the foreseeable future with some photographs I took of some recommended books (and flowers and designer scented candles, obvs, this is a blog post) in case your new year's resolutions have fallen off the back end of a lorry with mine. Because it is the beginning of spring y'all, and (apart from Jan 1st, and maybe your birthday) when is a better time to turn over a new leaf than when lambs and daffodils and blossom is springing up everywhere cos mother nature is turning over a new leaf too!
I ummed and arred and toyed with what to put as my new year's resolutions - narrowing it down to a short list for me is tricky, as my brain naturally constantly whirs with ways I could be better and do more. My nature is to make every day (Jan 1st or not) a pretty much a constant battle to live more purposefully, time manage myself better, be less anxious, well just live and be and do more really. It isn't a stressful way to be at. all.
Here are some scrawlings I made on a plane to the Phillippines on Dec 28th (fyi if you clicked on this post to for some pleasant book recommendations, please scroll past this waffle to the next picture, if you enjoy some reflective waffeling, please continue. Oh gosh now I want a waffle. Anyway, resolutions:)
1. Learn to drive
2. Go to the dentist!!!
3. Start giving blood again
4. Get up earlier and do some productive tasks before work. Be a lark, not an owl.
5. Exercise more per week
6. Find more balance, and give myself more time to reflect and not rush
7. Manage my finances better, stop flittering it away on cocktails and pret lunches and save it for special memories and things from Anthropologie and classy and cool independent “boutiques”. Which yes, is technically comes under the umbrella on flittering, but if I am going to spend my money on stuff, I want it to be really beautiful stuff which gives me a wave of “gees louise I own that material good!” every time I see it.
8. Say yes to my friends more, see my friends more (slightly at odds with 6 and 7 - attempts at which have sometimes got in the way of 8)
9. Be thinner. Or at least a lower percentage of body fat.
10. Read more
11. Take up squash or some sort of healthy game I can play with Will. That sounded like an innuendo, but I read in the Happiness Project (see below for more on that) to have 1 indoor game and 1 outdoor game as a tip for happy couples and I am really struggling to find a good game to play with a man 1 whole foot taller than me, where I can actually win. Again, sounded like another innuendo, sorry.
12. Be mindful.
13. Eat less processed sugar.
Etc etc yaddy yaddy yadda.
Eurk just writing that list is exhausting, and so far apart from an attempt at 4 and 7, the list is not doing so well. (Last minute edit, I have now accomplished number 2, wahoo!)
So I've tried to narrow all of those down to one I can stick to, and I've decided it is this space. A bit like
my about page, where I proliferate that this blog will solve all my life problems, now I am saying it will support all my new year's resolutions. A lot to expect from one little blogspot I have a history of abandoning for months a time, and do nothing to promote... but positive thinking people!! Also, lets just disregard the fact it is mid April and this is the first time my presence has graced this corner of the internet in 2016. Ssssh.
Because actually, when I do bother to use this space to reflect on my lifestyle and the world it really does make me a bit happier, and feel like I am getting more out of my life. This space helps me live more on purpose - to be more active in the choices I make in my life, take time to reflect, seek out new experiences and opportunities. So more of that in (the rest of) 2016 please.
If you need a little inspiration here are some lovely books that might help boost a forgotten new year's resolution of yours, or if you are more of a spring time resolution person, some handy books below, which aren't too self helpish to read openly on the tube.
1.
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo
Oh what you've heard of this one already? Ok, so this is hardly a well kept secret, but if you haven't read it yet, it is worth the hype. I haven't even finished it, but a few chapters in I was so inspired I spent a Saturday reducing my wardrobe by a 1/3, something I haven't done since I wore size age 7-8 and got rid of all the age 5-6. And really that was mainly my mum attempting to clothe my sister.
2.
The Happiness Project by Gretchin Ruber
I read this last year, and it really makes you want to go out there and big up yo bad self. Yeah I have no idea what I mean by that sentence either. The pursuit of happiness has possibly never been as well documented as it is today, I devour blog posts on how to be happier whether that is a list of favourites or grateful things, or a way to squeeze an extra hour in your day to live a more mindful life. This book is like all the best blog posts you've ever read on being happy rolled into one.
3.
What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami, the Japanese author better know for his acclaimed novels like
Norwegian Wood and
Kafka on the Shore, is also an ultra marathon runner. An ultra marathon, in case you didn’t know is any race longer than a marathon, but many ultra marathons are like 50 + miles. Ran all at once. But for an ultra marathon runner, Haruki Murakami makes long distance running very accessible and also very inspiring, and points out all the great things for the mind as well as the body. As he says, he doesn’t think he would be a writer if he wasn’t a runner as it allows him the time to have a good think. (Think he puts it way more eloquently than that).
4.
How to stop worrying and start living by Dale Carnegie
Ok, so this one is a little less conspicious on the tube than the others, but that is what kindles were made for. Self help books, and the 50 shades of grey trilogies. Dale Carnegie was the first real self help book writer, and his case study supported tips for worrying and just living a happier life makes this one of the easiest to read and most useful self help books I’ve ever come across.
5. Poem for a day edited by Nicholas Albery and Peter Ratcliffe
I have the e-book version of Poem for a day 2 on my phone, and like to read it when I am waiting for my packed tube to draw in, it chills me out, puts things in perspective and makes me feel like I have already done something super smart and intellectual that day, and hey it is not even 8:30. Last year, I kept the paperback version of poem for the day 1 on my kitchen shelf with my cookbooks and would read it whilst the kettle was boiling, or the bread was toasting to the same affect.
Happy Sunday everyone! My resolution is to post something around this time (may become more precise but I am setting a low bar for now) every Sunday, because it is the perfect day for lazy blog reading. Hope you have a wonderful day full of waffles and naps (sorry got waffles on my mind, my mind on my waffles), and an exciting week.
Vicky x
PS.
Running.
50 shades of Grey.
About.
