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Thursday, April 02, 2020

Three Indulgences

Today I'm joining with Carole and friends to talk about three ways I'm being kind to myself during these stressful times.

1. I'm journaling.
I used to write in a journal all the time as a tween, teen, and young adult, but I got out of the habit. Since this past weekend, I've been taking a few minutes each night before bed to look back on the day and, at a minimum, note three things I accomplished that day and five things that brought me small moments of joy. The accomplishments don't have to be huge, earth-shattering things; sometimes it's as simple as "I went for a walk" or "I did a load of laundry." When you're just sitting at home day after day, it can get to feel like you're not getting anything done, so this is a very easy way to see that things are getting done and I am being productive. Similarly, the moments of joy aren't necessarily big, exciting things but things I might have overlooked normally. Some recent entries have included "working on a puzzle with Rainbow" and "adding a mini skein to my granny square blanket."

2. I'm exercising.
I mentioned yesterday that getting outside to exercise feels like a treat now that we're supposed to stay in as much as possible, and I never thought I'd say something like that! I've been mainly going for long walks (and taking my time to notice small things around the neighborhood instead of getting wrapped up in my thoughts), but yesterday I started running again. I managed a total of 2.5 miles, so just 23.7 left to hit my marathon goal! The endorphins you get from exercising are a real thing, not to mention the Vitamin D from sunshine. It also felt really good last night to be physically (as opposed to emotionally) exhausted.

3. I'm using the good stuff.
You know how when you have particularly precious stuff, either because it's expensive or limited in quantity, you tend to store it away and never use it? Now is the time to use it! I'm sure many of you are suffering from extra dry hands these days like me, exacerbated from all the extra hand washing, so I'm using the good hand lotions:


Doesn't every woman have some of these little gift-size tubes of fancy lotions they've received as gifts over the years? Now is the time to use them -- your hands will thank you! Similarly, use that special skein of yarn or braid of fiber. Eat that special chocolate. Open up that special bottle of liquor or wine (if I can get some tonic water and lime, I know I'm going to be opening the special bottle of gin!).

I hope the rest of your week has plenty of self-care. Stay safe, and catch you here again on Sunday, when I should have a new skein of handspun to show off.

14 comments:

  1. Three very nice things! I never thought I would look forward to exercise either, but my daily walk has become the highlight of my day. It keeps getting longer as I walk through the cemetery, admire the old carved headstones, make up stories based on the names and dates I see, and enjoy the peacefulness. I wish I had looked for limes at the grocery store yesterday, but they're on my list now, and I'll have v&ts to look forward to.

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  2. Yes! I love your idea of using the good stuff. What am I saving it for? I need the comfort and excitement of l'Occitane hand cream today!!!

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  3. Sarah! I love and can totally relate to ALL 3 of these things! I actually went to the store for gin last week, knowing our Stay Home orders were coming. They were all out of tonic and only had diet (blech)...but then two sweet guys who were ALSO jonesing for G & Ts alerted me to aisle 22W. That's where they keep the 'good stuff,' apparently--because now the only tonic I have in my house is ## elderflower tonic. And I'm not saving it for anything but today! Because I think House Arrest Due to Pandemic is special-occasion enough. Let's use it up, ladies :) Cheers!! xo

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    1. Oooh, perhaps I need to put some fancy tonic water on the shopping list this week!

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  4. These are great ways to cope, seriously. I journal in the morning (20 minutes) and it's the best thing to empty my head from dreams and stuff from the day before and what is to be expected and just to keep in tune with myself (also it will help your hanwriting, but that's by-the-by).
    I also write down what I did each day, it's just so good to proove to yourself that you ARE being productive!!

    My good handlotion is running low, I COULD order more online, but I guess I'll wait for a bit. We'll see.
    And I so admire you for the exercise - good for you! I'm gonna do something tomorrow, and I hope we can use the balcony next week.

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    1. Under normal circumstances I have to force myself to exercise, but being confined really makes me long to get outside. I'm really considering it so lucky that this pandemic happened at a time when it's actually nice when we go outside. I don't know what I'd do if it were the middle of the winter!

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    2. I thought about this, too - while I totally understand that it's a pain not to be able to go to the parc when it's sunny outside, I think we would have been worse off in winter time (at least on the northern half of the globe) with so much darkness. It would have been even gloomier.

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  5. Lovely! I have a 16.9 oz bottle of the Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater lotion sitting right here by my computer - it's my favorite!!

    And I totally agree about taking time for reflection. It's a habit I've developed since leaving my job to stay at home -- and a wonderful reminder that I am useful and important even without going to work every day!

    I love this post -- thank you for writing it :)

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    1. Enjoy that rosewater! It's my favorite (and I use the rosewater and glycerine bar soap for my face soap), but sadly they have changed all their product lines and I don't think it's available anymore!

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  6. You are so right...what are we saving it for is going on my refrigerator!! No more holding back for a special day - I am in need of making special days right now and this is a perfect example! (and with that, I am pulling out some fiber that I have been saving for something special that might just have to come out this weekend!)

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  7. These are such good things, Sarah! I'm a life-long journaler, so I can't imagine going through These Days without pouring out words every day. And exercise is VITAL to my state of mind, too. I love the notion of using the good stuff! This is the perfect time for doing just that. Here's to a restorative weekend. XO

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  8. It will be good to have that journaling to look back on. I have started running again too. Now I need to reboot my running app and start keeping track. I saw a virtual 5k somewhere online.

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  9. Great post and great ideas!

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  10. Very good ideas. I haven't had any Crabtree products for ages. The sort-of-local Crabtree store and an outlet went out of business awhile back. I may order some lotion.

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