An Un-Simple Life

If you happen to be one of my regular readers, you may have noticed a small absence of late. This is mainly due to the fact that my job has been sucking up a majority of my time and energy lately, and I, frankly, have not had the passion to post.

I’m a firm believer in the maxim “if you don’t have something to say, don’t say anything!”. And that applies very much to my blogging. However, I felt the need to share my current frame of mind with you all, and so here I am.

I have been living a rather un-simple life of late, in that the stresses of work have been on my mind, and I’ve not had the mental energy to create the calm attitude I need to get passionate about things. I’m sure many of you can relate - when something takes a lot of your time and mental energy, there’s not a whole heck of a lot left for anything else. It’s not a space I am happy to be in, and I’m hoping it will change over the next few weeks. I’d love to get back to researching for my sustainable home project, and sharing what I’ve found with you all.

And yes, I will have those mushroom photos for you soon! They have been mighty tasty, let me tell you Especially in the risotto that Nick made on Thursday night. I have to say he is a damn fine cook!

Here’s hoping I get back to “regular working order” soon, until then, all the best…

Jess

Staying balanced in a busy life

I didn’t get to sleep until 2am last night (or is that this morning). Why? Because I couldn’t turn my brain off! It was full of ideas, plans - exciting stuff. And, just like a kid on Christmas eve, I was too excited to sleep.

As I’ve probably mentioned before, I’m a teacher, and I’m passionate about reading and learning. As much as I love my job, my dream is to run my own business, work from home, and be able to spend the time to grow my garden, cook good food, build a harmonious home and spend time with those I love. So, I’ve embarked on a self-guided education about how to do this. It’s very exciting stuff! And I have a lot of ideas that I want to capture and implement - to the point of scribbling down ideas in the dark

On top of that I have… a full-time job; am going to start a Saturday science communicator job for six weeks next school term, (and the one after); I’m learning the cello; go to the gym almost every day; have a family and friends to talk to… in short, I have a very busy life, like I’m sure all of you do. Nick’s still in the UK at the moment, and I joked to him tonight that I’ve gotten used to life without him - I’ll have to find some time in my day to squeeze him in!! Now, of course I say that in jest, but there’s an element of truth in there, as well.

It’s so easy to get caught up being busy - even if it’s productive busy - and then burn out. I got sick last week, and I think the main reason was a lack of sleep - too many late nights on the computer! At least when Nick gets home he’ll be able to roll over and say “Oi! Enough of that now”

I like learning, growing, planning, doing… I’m a happier person at this point in my life than ever before because I’m doing things I’ve put off for years. But it’s important to take a step back once in a while and make sure I’m not neglecting the need for relaxation and peace that every mind and body needs.

I find deep breathing and breath-focussed meditation helps me to do this - when I remember to fit it into my day! How do you stay balanced?

Recycle Me!!

I am very proud of myself today, as I have finally done something I’ve been meaning to get around to for a while… I’ve set up recycling at my work!

I’m the manager where I work, and we use a lot of paper, and a while ago it started annoying me that we were just chucking it out when we’d finished with it. So, today I finally found the time - grabbed some old boxes that we’d had paper delivered in - and put a little message on the front of each:

I also put up a note for my staff, explaining what could go in there and what couldn’t.

The next step is to ring the council and see if they will give us a recycling bin. All houses have one, but our block of businesses doesn’t, for some strange reason. Otherwise, I’ll just bag it up and lug it all home to my own recycling bin.

It’s funny - I was feeling a bit down today, but after I did this I felt really good. I guess I am making that little bit of difference after all!