I need lots of reinvigorating these days. Even though I know in the long run everything will work out, getting through “now” can be difficult. But today I’m giving myself a pep talk.
Last week I started making time each day for physical activity that had been seriously lacking, and I’m going to build on that now. I will eat out less and cook more often, trying new healthy recipes and monitoring my spending in the process. I’m back to taking my two daily multi-vitamins. I’m going to find a way to do yoga, even if I have to play Yogamazing from my computer. And I’ll be helping out more with keeping the family’s German Shepard active. I will continue to work on driving and job-related things, of course. I’m a bit tired of writing about that here though.
I write often in my journal these days, and I allow myself to go crazy there. I’ll jot down any fleeting thought without judging it, sometimes reaching to grasp and record the ideas and feelings I’d otherwise push out of mind quickly, with little concern for sophisticated prose. For years as a kid and teenager I think I was too self-conscious about even the most personal of writing, tearing out pages I wasn’t happy with later, or writing as though for an audience. But I’ve stopped doing that. I just embrace the freedom and privacy of the page, and sometimes, small nuggets make into my online writing, though not necessarily word for word. This passage I wrote several weeks ago resonates with me today:
My creative energy has been flowing for days–bursts of inspiration, highs and lows, defeat and lethargy–I’ve felt all of these, but underneath everything is this sense that I’m on the cusp of something. Like wheels are clicking and grinding in my brain and somehow it’s all going to add up. Like I’m going to produce something soon, or do something meaningful…I don’t know what, but I’m laying the foundation for it.
[An art print I recently bought; I was so enamored with the colors I couldn't get it out of my mind.]
Recipes to try
-Basically every vegetarian recipe on Budget Bytes (seven layer dip using not-refried beans , creamy avocado dressing, peanut soba stir fry, and tons of pasta recipes like Tuscan white bean pasta)
-And many selections from Oh She Glows, like 15 minute creamy avocado pasta, roasted tomato basil pesto (I’m trying to use pesto on vegetables more often now, rather than just pasta), and long weekend grilled salad