Letting Go of 2018

It's the end of another year again! 2018 feels like it's gone by quite fast. When it's Christmas I always think, "How is it here again?" lol. I find that once it gets to September, the remaining months of the year seem to go quickly. I started writing this a couple of days ago and it's now New Year's Eve. Last year I wrote a post about letting go of 2017 (doesn't feel that long since I did it!) which you can read here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2017/12/letting-go-of-2017.html

This year I'm going to do a similar post about letting go of 2018 and getting ready for 2019. :)

If you're interested in numerology, 2018 was an 11/2 universal year, so 2019 is a 3 year. It's said to be a year when our desires will take form and we'll expand more. Read more here: https://www.universallifetools.com/2018/12/2019-universal-3-year-numerology-spiritual-meaning/

My personal year number was a 6 this year, so 2019's will be 7. 6 was about harmony in love and family. I don't know if it was that accurate but I did make some new friends and meet new people this year. 7 is about learning and reflection. I use the book 21st Century Goddess for information abut my year number, but you can find your personal year number here: https://karisamuels.com/personal-year-numerology/

Gratitude List

Things I'm grateful for this month:

Christmas lights and decorations
Chocolate advent calendars- still like to have one!
Getting a Christmas tree for only £12 this year!
Meeting new people at a Meetup event
Fluffy blankets
Sunny days
Yule coming up
Christmas in general

Feeling Your Emotions- Fear and Anxiety (Part 2)

This is the next post in the Feeling Your Emotions series. You can read the introductory post here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2017/11/feeling-your-emotions-introduction.html

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, so if you're having mental/physical issues please seek medical help in addition to reading this. :)

Update 29/8/22: Several of the links have now gone or changed but I've updated where I can and added a couple of new ones. :)

I've previously covered Anger, Sadness and Depression and Fear and Anxiety. As I did with the other posts, fear and anxiety is divided into two parts. Part 1 which I wrote in October, looked at fear and anxiety themselves, the differences and similarities between them. Part 2 will look at feeling better, managing fear (like with sadness it's a normal human emotion, so we won't be able to get rid of it completely) and healing/coping with anxiety. You can read Part 1 here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2018/10/feeling-your-emotions-fear-and-anxiety.html

Now here is Part 2. While in the middle of writing this I ended up going through an anxious time. I intended to post it last month but never mind.

I'm going to look at fear and anxiety separately but sometimes things written in either section will overlap with the other. As well as looking at it from a psychological viewpoint, I'm also going to look at it from a spiritual perspective. :)


Worry

First I'll take a quick look at worry. So what's the difference between fear and worry? In Part 1 I mentioned how fear is more about a specific threat and anxiety is more of a vague unease. Fear has been defined as an "unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain and harm", "an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger" and "a vital response to physical and emotional danger". Worry is when you think (or are afraid) that something bad is going to happen and you keep thinking about it, dwelling on it. Read more here: http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/difference-between-the-words-fear-and-worry/

Gratitude List

Things I'm grateful for this month:

Going to firework displays for Bonfire Night
Going to a Maypole workshop with my belly dance group- although it's more a spring activity, it was still fun!
New slippers!
The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma- currently reading it
Coffee (hot and iced/frappuccino)
Christmas chocolate!
Last of the autumn leaves and colours
Hot chocolate


P.S. I'm currently taking part in Amina Makhdoom's Kindness Challenge which runs for a month (23rd Nov to 22nd Dec). We just started, so if you'd like to join you can read more and sign-up here: http://www.lunchwithcinderella.com/blog-posts/kindness

Gratitude List

This month I'm grateful for:

An Arabic dance workshop with Katie Holland
A Regency dance workshop with my group BD4U
Getting a charger for my new toothbrush that I got last month!
Beautiful autumn leaves and colours
October roses and sunny, golden days
Meetup events
Still the Hallowe'en chocolate (and doughnuts too!)
Hallowe'en/Samhain this week!

Bonus: Getting a new coat for winter.


And for a change, here are a couple of autumn pics:

Tree at Shoreham Library

Feeling Your Emotions- Fear and Anxiety (Part 1)

This is the next post in the Feeling Your Emotions series. You can read the introductory post here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2017/11/feeling-your-emotions-introduction.html


Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, so if you're having mental/physical issues please seek medical help in addition to reading this. :)


I've previously covered Anger and Sadness and Depression. Now I'm moving onto fear and anxiety. Like I did with sadness and depression, I'll address fear and anxiety as two separate things. As with my previous posts I'll divide it into two parts; this part will look at fear and anxiety in general and the 2nd one will be about dealing with fear and worry, and healing anxiety/feeling better.

In my understanding, fear and anxiety are a bit different, but it is confusing. "Anxiety" is these days termed as a mental health disorder. I myself have what's called "health anxiety", also known as hypochondria. My type of anxiety has also been termed "phobic anxiety". I would say I also have generalised anxiety (GAD) and social anxiety (although to a lesser extent). I don't believe I've been officially diagnosed with the last two though. Let's look more closely at the differences between fear and anxiety.

Some people believe that fear relates to a specific threat whereas anxiety is more a vague unease.
Hilary Jacobs Hendel, author of It's Not Always Depression which I recently read, defines fear as a "core emotion". The core emotions are sadness, fear, anger, joy, excitement, sexual excitement and disgust. For more on this and the Change Triangle, a healing process and guide to feeling better, visit this link: https://www.hilaryjacobshendel.com/what-is-the-change-triangle-c18dd

Gratitude List

Things I'm grateful for this month:

Claire Baker's September Celebration
New kettle
Radox Feel Blissful bubble bath
South Coast Shimmy
Early Hallowe'en chocolates!
Getting a new electric toothbrush (although I need a new adaptor to charge it!)
Madron/the Autumn Equinox
Early autumn sunshine


And because Madron, also known as Mabon and the Autumn Equinox, is a time of thanksgiving, I'm going to write an extra list of 10 things I'm grateful for in general:

1. Books
2. Music
3. Chocolate
4. Sunshine
5. Family, friends and pets. :)
6. Living by the sea
7. Living near the country too
8. The internet
9. Sunsets
10. Notebooks