While I’ve been writing content for years, I’m finding myself a little lost when it comes to my own blog! It’s a blank canvas filled with possibilities and it’s difficult to choose which direction I want to go. Bear with me here as I experiment and see what works and what doesn’t! I thought I’d create a monthly lunch date so that we can get to know one another better and discuss little things that make us happy, the ups and downs, the challenges, the accomplishments, and more. So grab yourself a treat and let’s settle in!
Restless for Fall
I love summer! Summer is great! The warm sun, the beach reads, the iced drinks, the plants thriving, all things I love. Except the melt-your-face-off heat and humidity. The temperature the other day was 101° and the heat index was higher than that! No thank you. So I love summer, but pretty much for just a month or two. August tends to be the time where we have a ton of heat and a ton of humidity and August happens to be the month before fall starts. Fall is my all time favorite season! And you know what? I’m done with summer and ready for fall to be here please. I can see all my fall and Halloween decorations slowly coming out, waiting to decorate my life in seasonal bliss. Is anyone else restless for autumn? What’s your favorite season?
August Mantra: I am Filled with Loving Kindness for Myself and Others
Well….I did a terrible job of following my mantra this month. I started strong that first week, but slowly I became overwhelmed with health issues, unexpected expenses that wouldn’t seem to stop coming (just stop asking me for money!), and before I knew it, my mental wellbeing became a lower priority. I’m thinking about trying out the same mantra for Septemeber since I didn’t fully utilize it this month, but I could also search for a different mantra. Do you guys have a mantra recommendation that you love?
My Latest Obsession: Iced White Peach Tea
If you know me at all, you know I am a tea connoisseur. Imagine that pretentious, snobbish, ultra-refined person who swishes, sniffs, swirls, and tastes wine while talking about all the positives and negatives of each drink. That’s me, but with tea. Iced, hot, lukewarm, I’ll take it! However, I’m a pretty big tea snob and I feel like I should warn you ahead of time. So my latest obsession is:
White Floral Tea with Homemade Peach Syrup
So divine! I like using a white peony tea because peony has a very subtle floral flavor, but found that I like it with lavender white tea as well. I’m still on the fence with white jasmine tea and peach syrup. It sometimes seem like they’re competing rather than complimenting each other in flavor. But if I’m feeling particularly feisty, a competitive tea would make my day more interesting. What’s your favorite drink this summer?
Books I Read and Loved
Every summer, all I want to read are beach reads. Unfortunately, I have a rather specific idea of what I want in a beach read and beach read can mean anything from murder mystery to ultra drama central. What I’m looking for is scenic nature themes, mostly on a beach, with chill slice of life books that make you smile. It turns out that I have trouble finding them, but I did find one this month that I really loved! The Lemon Sisters by Jill Shavis. This was such a fun read! It had so much heart, humor, and exploration of finding your happiness. I was amazed to see how much it discussed mental health and really well at that which was a wonderful surprise.
The story is about two sisters, Brooke and Mindy, struggling to find their place and happiness. Brooke, an adventurous free spirit, is struggling with PTSD after a helicopter crash, trying to get her old life back. Mindy, a perfectionist through and through, has been so weighed down keeping everything in order that she’s melting down. The writing was great and had me laughing, smiling, and tearing up a time or two. Truly an excellent read!
Have you read anything lately that you absolutely loved? Tell me about it!
Challenges and Accomplishments
This is a mental health blog so let’s talk mental health. This month hasn’t been a good one for me. Good and bad times come and go, but I’m so ready for this bad time to be gone. Knowing that it’s temporary helps immensely. This month has been filled with doctor’s visits, exhaustion, and a whole lotta bills.
Challenges: Honestly, my biggest challenge this month has been to tell myself to wait this bad time out. When I have a bad day or a bad week, I can brush it off, but when it lasts longer, it can be tough to remember that it’s temporary. There’s a part of me that feels like times will be bad forever. The doctor visits will never end, unexpected expenses will keep popping up left and right until we’re drained, etc etc. My mantra this month changed from “I am filled with loving kindness” to “Everything is temporary”.
Even then I’ve had more panic attacks than I usually do and I can see a decline in my mental health and physical health from all the disappointment, stress, and upset. While I try my best to take care of myself, it sometimes feels out of my control and that is difficult for me to swallow. So I’ll try my best to stay positive and wait this time out.
Accomplishments: This may have been a bad month, but there are still things to celebrate! After all, I’ve been doing well on this blog! I’ve been working hard on it and I love seeing the fruits of my labor!
Lately, I’ve been tapping into my creativity a bit more, exploring ideas and seeking out inspiration. I’ve been wanting to paint and sew and create! Nothing makes me feel better than creating so I’m clinging to my creativity during this rough patch to make me smile and feel energized.
I sang in front of someone this month! When it comes to singing, I have stage fright bad. I trained as a singer and yet, I still struggle with singing in front of people. I get extremely panicky and nervous, I often sing off key and all shakey, and it’s just no fun. However, I love to sing and I want to be able to sing in front of anyone! So this is a fear I’m challenging myself to overcome.
I bought a ghost mat! I cannot tell you how much this mat makes me smile. Look at that little ghost! He’s just so cute! I haven’t come up with a name for him yet though. Any suggestions?
What’s been going on with you? What’s been getting you down? What accomplishments are you celebrating? Tell me tell me!