Pausing

Welcome to this week’s roundup of three things I’ve been enjoying. It’s been a really shitty week, for reasons that aren’t mine to share, so I’ve not been able to get my brain in gear to write the usual ‘essay’. I hope that’s okay. (And yes, I do appreciate the irony of this being the week after I wrote about looking after myself. I’ve been using all the tools I wrote about)

• ✍️ The Artist’s Way and Morning Pages. I’ve attempted Morning Pages before, but never as part of Julia Cameron’s full The Artist’s Way course. I’m now four weeks in and above all really thankful for the space of Morning Pages every day to help me process what’s in my brain before I properly start the day - especially in the last week, when there’s been a lot to process. To help me get into the rhythm, I’m using the Morning Pages Journal, which has a header image at the top of every third page to mark a new day, and a section header every week to match the course book, with the key insights of that week’s learning. Each page has a quotation at the bottom of it from that week’s chapter, which helps prompt in un-inspired moments (ad - Amazon affiliate links).

• 🐦‍⬛ ‘Winter Murmuration’ hoodie I wanted a comfy black hoodie, which I could chuck on over my gym or dance kit, or with a t-shirt and shorts, and which had some sort of non-embarrassing design but which also wasn’t plain. This from the Wildlife Trust’s fundraising shop is perfect. It’s so cosy and also not too heavy for June. (I now want their Daisy jumper too!)

• 🥚 Boiled eggs. This is an uninspired food recommendation - but bear with me here. I’ve started boiling 4-5 eggs at a time, while I’m making lunch or tidying the kitchen or whatever, and then chilling them and putting them in the fridge. They come in so useful for a mid-morning snack, or if I realise that the meal I’m putting together is entirely carbs, and just generally make me feel that past me is looking after future me.

Eggs photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Speak soon,

Lily