Friday Joy: Be Kind To Yourself
How many times have we read scary or unsettling news in the last few weeks? I don’t know what’s going on in my brain but I literally check the news every few hours. I must open my New York Times app 4 or 5 times a day. It’s not good people.
I every week I want to share a few things that have been helping me gain some perspective, feel a bit better about myself and the world, and just plain take my mind off the news.
Things to listen to:
Would I be a good millennial if I didn’t recommend a podcast? Let’s start with a big topic; being kind to yourself. It’s easy right not to beat yourself up for eating too much, not being productive enough, etc etc…
Fire up your air pods and tune in Ten Percent Happier. They have a meditation app (one that I like but isn’t my top pick) but they have a podcast I love listening to lately and the one speaking with Dr. Neff really grabbed my attention since it’s dealing with just this topic.
Things to do:
I picked calligraphy back up again and started a “Creative Hour” everyday on the advice of my therapist to help bring creativity into my life when the thing I love most, creating photos of people’s relationships, has been put on hold.
Want to start calligraphy? It’s fun, supplies are darn cheap compared to other crafts, and you can write a bunch of letters if you are sick and tired of Zoom meetings. I recommend starting with The Postman’s Knock and perhaps purchasing some of her courses. It’s how I start and still find her the most informative and helpful teacher out there.
Things to watch:
We are all stuck inside so why not watch a good lesbian HBO series? Gentlemen Jack is based off the diaries of Anne Lister and the HBO series is full of drama, a romance, and something I needed to rewatch right about now.
Have a good laugh:
A youtube video with a current self visiting her January 2020 self. Think a bit like Ghost of Christmas past only Pandemic Future. I laughed so hard at the end with the Tiger King reference, I needed to take a moment to control myself.