Mid-2024 Reflections

We're halfway through the year again, so it's time for my annual mid-year reflections post! I've been writing these since 2018 (6 years now), although my first one was in May, so not quite during the middle of the year. You can see my previous posts at the links below:

Reflections (2017): https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2017/05/reflections.html

Mid-2018-Reflecions: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2018/06/mid-2018-reflections.html

Mid-2019 Reflections: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2019/06/mid-2019-reflections.html

Mid-2020 Reflections: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2020/06/mid-2020-reflections.html

Mid-2021 Reflections: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2021/06/mid-2021-reflections.html

Mid-2022 Reflections: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2022/06/mid-2022-reflections.html

Mid-2023 Reflections: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2023/06/mid-2023-reflections.html

 

I also write an end of year post. You can see 2023's here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2023/12/letting-go-of-2023.html

The first half of 2024 has been ok but not really great. I did feel better than last year though. I had an anxious start to the year and struggled with health anxiety. I've also felt really down at times.

I mainly just went to Happy Café meetups (organised by Action for Happiness) and for park walks. I've got out of the routine of going to the park again lately though, due to various circumstances. I did go the other day though, as part of my celebrations for Litha/the Summer Solstice. I haven't been belly dancing lately but I met up with my dance friends at a pub a couple of times, which was nice.

 

I turned 40 in March, which felt a bit weird! "Milestone" birthdays can often feel quite strange. I remember that I was dreading turning 30 10 years ago, but it was better than I thought. 35 felt a bit weird but not as old as 40, lol. I'm not where I thought I would be at this age or where I feel I "should" be but I think a lot of people feel the same. 

If you can relate to feeling "behind" in life, here is a good video from KristiDoingThings about how you don't have to get everything done by your 20s and 30s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Yaetd4yOY

There are some encouraging comments too. :)  

I've struggled with writing this reflections post because I've just been losing faith in the world in recent months. I wrote a post last month called Feeling Powerless and shared a bit about how I was feeling there: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2024/05/feeling-powerless.html

The point of the post was shifting from a place of feeling powerless to regaining your power and feeling better.

I've been a bit more active on the blog than I was this time last year. Apart from my monthly gratitude lists and the Feeling Powerless post, I also wrote another one called Feeling Stuck (When Your Dreams Seem Far Away). In the first half of 2023 I only did one other post apart from the Gratitude Lists. I'm glad that I got back into writing here a bit more.

I post regularly on my entertainment blog Star Sparkle Blog and once or twice a month on my seasonal living blog The Seasonal Life. As with past years, I'm doing quarterly updates on TSL. You can see the winter-spring update here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2024/04/winter-spring-update-2024.html

Still lots of ups and downs in the world. We're having a general election in the UK next month. I feel disillusioned with the main parties to be honest, so not sure who I'll vote for! 

So that's it for the update. Thank you for reading. :) It's shorter than other years but never mind. It's now "officially" summer in the Northern Hemisphere (with the Summer Solstice or Litha as some of us with pagan beliefs also call it) having been last Thursday. Summer is my favourite season and I do feel better during the summer months. 

It's also halfway through 2024, which is a time when many people can feel reflective about how their year has gone so far and whether they've achieved any goals they may have set at New Year/during January. You can set goals any time you like though, you don't have to wait for a particular time of year. It's just that certain times feel easier or motivate us more. There's a good post by Malavika Suresh where she says that any time can be a "fresh start": https://hellomalavika.com/2018/09/10/done-is-better-than-perfect/

I didn't set any intentions or goals this time but I do find it helpful to look back on the past 6 months. If you'd like to review your year so far or set some new goals for the rest of the year, here are a few resources:

Mid-Year  Check-in workbook for 2024 by Susannah Conway (get the downloand sent to your email address): https://www.susannahconway.com/mid-year-workbook-2024  

How to Completely CHANGE Your Life in the Next 6 Months (video by Adete Dahiya): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1VO2nj3R7w&t=45s

how to get your life back on track mid year (video by KristiDoingThings): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WmljN46e3c

 

Wishing everyone a smooth transition into the second half of 2024! :) 

 

Photo: Hove Park. Moonsparkle 2024.