Sometimes getting through the day is enough | These past few weeks have felt like a bit of an awakening, something that’s been bubbling up inside for a while which has somehow been triggered and now I can’t seem to stop it.
Haha - Wrinkly Tin Level here too. I have so many intentions which rarely ever happen. I know the benefits, but life has a habit of making too many demands. I’m afraid your feelings of disgruntlement could be hormone related - but also toxic positivity is a thing. 💚
We definitely need to recognise and celebrate all the joy we can in the small things. All those folk chasing ‘happiness’ don’t see the small joys - but they are the ones that really matter. The little things that get us through every day 💚
Oh I love a ta-da list and this is the first time I’ve noticed someone else talking about them, besides the first place I read about them…which was a blog…maybe? I honestly can’t remember. But I hope you won’t mind me tagging you in a draft post I’ve written about ta-das over to-dos!
You can tag me all day long Sarah!! I long for visibility 😂 I found the ta da list through Gretchen Rubin’s Happier podcast - one of her listeners had written in about it. Total genius! Although the cynic in me no longer allows me to listen to such podcasts!
That’s sounds like the worst book club in the world! 😳
I’m sure Mo’s life is fascinating to read about, but it also sounds very extraordinary, so what works for him, in terms of happiness might not work for most people.
All this chat about it… I’m almost tempted to read it now. 😂😂
😂 a fiction bookclub I can handle & even biographies, memoirs etc. but I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do a business one. I did go to one once & I can’t remember the book but I wasn’t impressed. It was on zoom & we could only speak if the host let us, I offered my view that I didn’t agree with the author…I was then slapped down by the host & told its because I hadn’t done the work & wasn’t allowed to speak again.
Mo Gawdat is an interesting man and he’s written a bunch of books so there’s probably a memoir somewhere, but recently I’ve been finding him hard to stomach.
I too am Wrinkly Tin level and I’m a therapist!! I also really enjoy scrolling mindlessly through TikTok. I fall in and out of meditation and look at your freshly cut patch of meadow (particularly at the duvet and bottle of beer) with envy and yet I also imagine that photo was a snapshot…. If we can manage a snapshot of time spent doing something gorgeous like that or spending time doing anything we love and look forward to, be that TikTok or coffee in the garden I reckon that’s a win. Life is busy and no one is happy all the time. I also only call my mum in the car on the way to and from places. I love that you have written about this and made us all feel a little less guilty. 😊🙏
I managed about 10 minutes on the patch before I had to call it quits. The sky was blue but it was far from warm and its poured all day today so not even the puttering of tractors.
I’ve not tried TikTok yet but think I have enough distractions - I got a little bit attached to threads recently!
Whenever I used to call my mum it was always while I was doing something else - cooking, putting the washing out - never my ‘full attention’ but to be fair she was the same!
I’m glad the photo made you laugh, that’s what I was going for. It’s the aesthetic that’s associated with ‘zen’ that makes me balk. Your experience is so interesting, I’d love to hear more about the zen monastery & the reality of zen rather than what people post on their instagram feeds. Do you still meditate? Was it hours of meditation? I used to meditate & fit into a really good practice but like anything you stop the habit and it quickly falls away. Thankfully I haven’t experienced hot flashes (yet) although I do find I overheat more quickly but I know it’s not a flash. Being curious about sounds like a good distraction!
I’m late to the party on this post, and I found myself agreeing with you right to the end! The zen goddess photo made me laugh, because I spent a number of years living and working in a Zen monastery. Nice photo - not anything like life in a community of people who meditate (or not one I’ve lived in). One of the craziest things is going through menopause and hot flashes when you are sitting in the midst of 40-50 other people, dressed in robes and unable to get up and walk out without getting in trouble. My teacher said when she went through hot flashes she sat between two other women who had the same issue. Unfortunately, they all had their hot flashes at different times, so they took turns opening and closing the windows behind them (which were made of rice paper on wooden frames and quite noisy). Her advice to me years later when I went through it, was to try to notice where the hot flash actually started in the body, how it spread, when it would start to go - everything I could notice about it. What kind of sensation was it, did it matter if I was wearing long underwear or not, any question I could think of to investigate it, so my focus wasn’t on my discomfort. Surprisingly, it worked. I won’t say there weren’t some miserable moments, but even in my polartec long underwear I found myself able to sit quietly and be curious about what was going on in my body. Of course, when the hot flash left, the sweat sometimes left me chilled…🙄
Haha - Wrinkly Tin Level here too. I have so many intentions which rarely ever happen. I know the benefits, but life has a habit of making too many demands. I’m afraid your feelings of disgruntlement could be hormone related - but also toxic positivity is a thing. 💚
I know the feeling - the day starts with such good intentions but as you say - life makes demands. It’s about taking the joy when & how we get it!
Yes pesky hormones - I am definitely in my peri-meno era!!
We definitely need to recognise and celebrate all the joy we can in the small things. All those folk chasing ‘happiness’ don’t see the small joys - but they are the ones that really matter. The little things that get us through every day 💚
Oh I love a ta-da list and this is the first time I’ve noticed someone else talking about them, besides the first place I read about them…which was a blog…maybe? I honestly can’t remember. But I hope you won’t mind me tagging you in a draft post I’ve written about ta-das over to-dos!
You can tag me all day long Sarah!! I long for visibility 😂 I found the ta da list through Gretchen Rubin’s Happier podcast - one of her listeners had written in about it. Total genius! Although the cynic in me no longer allows me to listen to such podcasts!
That’s sounds like the worst book club in the world! 😳
I’m sure Mo’s life is fascinating to read about, but it also sounds very extraordinary, so what works for him, in terms of happiness might not work for most people.
All this chat about it… I’m almost tempted to read it now. 😂😂
Don’t!! I mean you can but i think I’d throw it across the room
And this is exactly why I could never join a Book Club!
That title irritated me too, so I went off and read half the intro chapter and now I’m raging. 😂
His story would probably have made a fantastic memoir but weirdly he’s dressed it up as self-help. Astonishing! 😳
😂 a fiction bookclub I can handle & even biographies, memoirs etc. but I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do a business one. I did go to one once & I can’t remember the book but I wasn’t impressed. It was on zoom & we could only speak if the host let us, I offered my view that I didn’t agree with the author…I was then slapped down by the host & told its because I hadn’t done the work & wasn’t allowed to speak again.
Mo Gawdat is an interesting man and he’s written a bunch of books so there’s probably a memoir somewhere, but recently I’ve been finding him hard to stomach.
I too am Wrinkly Tin level and I’m a therapist!! I also really enjoy scrolling mindlessly through TikTok. I fall in and out of meditation and look at your freshly cut patch of meadow (particularly at the duvet and bottle of beer) with envy and yet I also imagine that photo was a snapshot…. If we can manage a snapshot of time spent doing something gorgeous like that or spending time doing anything we love and look forward to, be that TikTok or coffee in the garden I reckon that’s a win. Life is busy and no one is happy all the time. I also only call my mum in the car on the way to and from places. I love that you have written about this and made us all feel a little less guilty. 😊🙏
Welcome to the wrinkly tin of wellness gang!!
I managed about 10 minutes on the patch before I had to call it quits. The sky was blue but it was far from warm and its poured all day today so not even the puttering of tractors.
I’ve not tried TikTok yet but think I have enough distractions - I got a little bit attached to threads recently!
Whenever I used to call my mum it was always while I was doing something else - cooking, putting the washing out - never my ‘full attention’ but to be fair she was the same!
It’s funny how the social media image is so different to the reality. At least we in the Wrinkly Tin gang know this now🤷♀️
Exactly!!
I’m glad the photo made you laugh, that’s what I was going for. It’s the aesthetic that’s associated with ‘zen’ that makes me balk. Your experience is so interesting, I’d love to hear more about the zen monastery & the reality of zen rather than what people post on their instagram feeds. Do you still meditate? Was it hours of meditation? I used to meditate & fit into a really good practice but like anything you stop the habit and it quickly falls away. Thankfully I haven’t experienced hot flashes (yet) although I do find I overheat more quickly but I know it’s not a flash. Being curious about sounds like a good distraction!
I’m late to the party on this post, and I found myself agreeing with you right to the end! The zen goddess photo made me laugh, because I spent a number of years living and working in a Zen monastery. Nice photo - not anything like life in a community of people who meditate (or not one I’ve lived in). One of the craziest things is going through menopause and hot flashes when you are sitting in the midst of 40-50 other people, dressed in robes and unable to get up and walk out without getting in trouble. My teacher said when she went through hot flashes she sat between two other women who had the same issue. Unfortunately, they all had their hot flashes at different times, so they took turns opening and closing the windows behind them (which were made of rice paper on wooden frames and quite noisy). Her advice to me years later when I went through it, was to try to notice where the hot flash actually started in the body, how it spread, when it would start to go - everything I could notice about it. What kind of sensation was it, did it matter if I was wearing long underwear or not, any question I could think of to investigate it, so my focus wasn’t on my discomfort. Surprisingly, it worked. I won’t say there weren’t some miserable moments, but even in my polartec long underwear I found myself able to sit quietly and be curious about what was going on in my body. Of course, when the hot flash left, the sweat sometimes left me chilled…🙄