“Deep breath in and Lion’s Breath out”
Loki
I considered skipping this week. Sometimes I’m just not particularly inspired to write about anything and it doesn’t feel great posting something half-assed. But then I thought, maybe I’ll just write about exactly how I’m feeling at this very moment. I really like my posts to be useful in some way, even if just for one person. I don’t know if this will be useful at all… probably not, but then again, I found typing this post out to be incredibly useful. So, I guess it meets the criteria. Here’s how I’m feeling…
I’m feeling grateful - grateful that I have a little bit of money left in the bank to allow me another couple of weeks of unemployment. I’m grateful that my partner has a stable job that he [usually] enjoys and that can cover our costs of living even when I can’t contribute. I’m grateful for this spacious and bright apartment in Portugal and that we’re settling in here with very few bumps.
I’m feeling happy - happy that I’m practising yoga more regularly, happy that I’m cooking more regularly, happy that I’m going for more walks, happy that the days are bright and warmer.
Creatively, I’m feeling inspired and motivated. One of our neighbours asked if I could bring her back a trinket from Ireland. My conversation with her and the arrival of Spring got me itching to crochet something. I managed to throw out a new pattern in something like 2 days! It was incredible! (For those wondering, the process of creating a pattern and writing it up for other people to use, checking it, taking the photos and fixing the formatting - that takes much longer than 2 days… I think this last pattern took me at least a week, to get Etsy-ready.)
Additionally, I spent the weekend trying my hand at painting furniture. It’s so much harder than I thought, and I DID NOT trust the process, but now that these pieces are nearly finished, I’m so impressed. Let’s hope I don’t jinx it! I’m a little sore from the painting and from yoga, but it’s definitely a good kind of sore!
I’m feeling proud - proud of myself for finding positivity today. That was my intention for the day when I started my yoga practice this morning and I actually feel like I achieved it. I’m generally quite a negative person when it comes to myself, and it takes quite a bit of work for me to be positive. It has to be intentional, otherwise, my default is negativity. Today’s not over yet, but it’s been a good day.
When I started typing, I thought I was going to spiel out another negative post about feelings of anxiety, but thankfully I chose to start by listing the positive stuff. What a therapeutic little exercise! Things are good. Yes, it’s time for me to start working again and yes, that means I’ll be trying my hand at a new role in a whole new industry and yes, I am nervous! But… I made it to the other side of intern year at the height of a pandemic. I CAN teach English online. Lives will not be at risk, mistakes will not be fatal. I CAN learn as I go - that’s been tried and tested and proven.
Here goes nothing!
“Deep breath in and lion’s breath out” - Adriene, Yoga with Adriene
