Gratitude List

 Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Easter
• Blossom trees
  
• Sunny days 
  
• More lockdown restrictions lifting
• Buying new books! 
• Golden spring evenings 
• Sunsets
  
• Coffee
  

Starting From the Bottom- Part 1

2020 was a difficult year for most of us, due to the coronavirus and worldwide lockdowns, and racial unrest (which highlighted how far we have to go to achieve equality. Many people have understandably been feeling low and/or anxious, and mental health conditions have been on the rise.

I wanted to write a post about the subject of moving up from a low place to feeling better, and also improving your life. I've been really struggling with both these things lately, and I expect quite a few others have too.

It's taken me a while to write this post, I haven't felt much like writing "in-depth" posts lately. I've decided to split this up into two parts, so Part 1 will cover feeling better and Part 2 will focus more on changing your mindset and actively working on changing your life. :)

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

 

There have been more people diagnosed with depression, anxiety, OCD and other disorders. For those of us with pre-existing mental health issues, it has been tough too. I went through a bad depressed period in autumn 2019 (before the virus/lockdowns). It did improve but I found myself feeling more depressed during the first lockdown in the spring and summer of 2020. When we came out of (the first) lockdown the anxiety seemed to get worse. Throughout the rest of last year, I was feeling very anxious and the health anxiety in particular worsened. 

Gratitude List

Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Birthday presents and birthday wishes. :)
• Having takeaway from Nando's- this was my first "lockdown birthday"!
• Oestara/the Spring Equinox
  
• Longer days 
• Buying a new Motorola phone!
• Going to the beach today
• Trying out new recipes
  
• Lockdown easing a bit

Gratitude List

I realised that I forgot to do last month's Gratitude List. Well, I was planning to write it, but then it had gone over to 1st Feb! lol. So anyway, here is the first list of the year! :)

Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Imbolg
• Sunny winter days
• Going to the beach (hadn't been there for ages) 
• The prospect of life becoming a bit more "normal" with coronavirus vaccines and a roadmap out of lockdown 
• Beautiful sunsets 
• Being able to reserve library books and pick them up 
• My computer and internet access
  
• Re-reading and re-playing favourite books and PS2 games- currently playing Haunting Ground and reading Liza Dalby's The Tale of Murasaki ,the book that inspired the name of this blog!  

 

I occasionally post photos with these lists, so here's a pic from the beach:

Shoreham Beach.

 

P.S. On the 25th it was Falling Petals' 8th birthday! Thank you to everyone who has read my posts. :) I have more planned this year, although inspiration has been a bit lacking at the moment, due to the past difficult year. Hope everyone is doing ok. :) 

You can read the first ever post on the blog here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2013/02/welcome-to-falling-petals.html

 

Letting Go of 2020

We're at the end of the year once again! The past few years I've written posts about letting go of the year. You can read them below:

Letting Go of 2017: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2017/12/letting-go-of-2017.html

Letting Go of 2018: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2018/12/letting-go-of-2018.html

Letting Go of 2019 + Starting a New Decade:  https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2019/12/letting-go-of-2019-starting-new-decade.html

 

2020 has been a difficult year for mostly everyone, so it feels appropriate to be writing this post now! I started this post a few days ago and I'm finishing it on New Year's Eve. I usually write mid-year reflection posts as well, so you can see the one from June 2020 here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2020/06/mid-2020-reflections.html

Gratitude List

 Things I'm grateful for this month:

• Christmas decorations and lights 
• Going for a walk by the river
• Coming out of lockdown
  
• Yule/the Winter Solstice
• Chocolate advent calendars!
• Hot chocolate
• Having a gingerbread latte from Starbucks
  
• Christmas presents

 

Gratitude List

 Things I'm grateful for this month:

• McDonald's iced frappes coming back! (I mentioned last month that I was having Costa Coffee Frostinos instead, but I think my local one is currently closed due to lockdown). 
  
• Going to Hove Park again after a while
• The last of the autumn beauty 
• Golden late autumn light
• Hot chocolate- now that it's colder I've started making my own at home again.
• YouTube
  
• The Chic Life gratitude challenge  
• Getting out in fresh air- we're allowed out for exercise during the 2nd lockdown.