WEEK IN REVIEW 19/8/19-25/8/19
HARD TIME
The last week has been a rough ride. The word "triggered" gets tossed around a lot these days but that is what happened at the end of last week; someone let me down and it sent me back to past feelings, back to a past life. My anxiety was the worst it has been in a while. Most of the time, it just hovers; it's there but it doesn't stop me doing things. Well this was different, this was debilitating. I am grateful for my ability to soothe myself, for my ability to work through those emotions and come out the other end quite quickly. It took me a few days but I was able to move forward and get back to myself, maybe a slightly more battered version, but myself none the less. I'm grateful I was able to have a productive week and I'm grateful I could find comfort in the small things again. But I'm also exhausted, physically and mentally. It's so tiring having to take hits because other people can't handle their own emotional baggage. Sometimes you don't want to be grateful that you made it through, you just want to have not had to go through it at all.
DOGS ARE GREAT
I love dogs. That's all.
PLANNING AS SELF CARE
I've been doing a lot of planning this week, mainly planning future trips. I have a work trip next week and then I've off to Wales do the fastest zip line in the world. The timing is actually quite nice, as I need a bit of a distraction after the last week. I've also been planning a big trip for next year that I think I'm going to book next month.
I enjoy planning. I don't do it deliberately but I think it is a form of self care for me. It's important when you take an emotional knock to be kind to yourself; I can be kinda hard on myself when I feel I've been unproductive, but I need to remember that sometimes being productive means just making it out of bed. I like to focus on things I enjoy doing as they’re easier to get done and I can start to feel like I’m accomplishing something. I think planning is also good because it forces me to focus on the future, not the past.
GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE
I am trying to be conscious of my consumerism so I hate to advocate retail therapy but last week I just needed reasons to get myself out of the house so I decided to head into town and peruse the shops. I'm not really a physical shopper anymore, I mostly shop online. But it was nice to see things in person, get some inspiration and mostly importantly, just move my body and be out in world with other people. I tried on a bunch of stuff in & Other Stories (on a side note, while retail therapy may be nice when you're feeling down, being in a changing room with a bunch of stuff that doesn't fit or look good, doesn't do much to help your mood. 0/10 would not recommend). I ended up just getting these earrings (well, I also bought an umbrella but that was a practical purchase) and I'm very happy with them. After, I went to a coffee shop with the intention of working on this blog, but I ended up watching YouTube videos. I know I could have done that at home but again, there was something nice about being out in the world. I wasn't quite in the mood for socialising but just being around people made me feel a bit less anxious, less isolated. I also took myself on a couple of walks and while they were sometimes a bit of a struggle with my anxiety, I was glad I did them.
