Small moments of calm lately….

The last six months has been far from ideal but now that I’m feeling so much better, I can appreciate the things that I’ve learned while I’ve not been very well and one thing I’ve really come to understand is that the quiet, calm moments in life are what makes me happiest 😍

The run up to moving house was stressful and chaotic and if you add that to the fact I wasn’t well, you can probably imagine what that period of life felt like.

And then when we actually moved, with the house being an old Victorian that needs work doing in every room, I had list upon list detailing all of the jobs that needed doing and all of the ways we were going to make it what we wanted it to be.

We’ve been in for just over a month now and the urgent jobs have been done along with loads of the smaller ones, which means we can slow down a little bit. The house is still very much a work in progress (and probably always will be), with half-finished projects everywhere, ideas waiting to happen and a never-ending mental list of jobs.

But over the last month I’ve started noticing the quieter moments more and more and it’s something I’m actually trying to embrace now, so I thought I’d share a few with you today 😁

My partner dug up a dead bush in our garden the other day and just left it on the path outside the house. Now I know exactly why — he’d just spent a good hour digging it out and it had properly fought him the whole way, so he was planning to deal with it later.

But even knowing that, the old me would have asked him to move it straight away because it looked a right state sitting there on the path.

Instead, I suggested we go for a walk. Partly because he’d worked so hard digging it up… and partly because I wasn’t allowed to lift anything anyway 😂

Over the next couple of days I kept noticing birds landing on it. At first I didn’t think much of it and just assumed they were stopping off on their way to our bird café, but then I realised they were actually pulling bits off the pile, flying away with them, and then coming back for more.

What I’d thought was just garden rubbish was actually exactly what they needed to build their nests, and I ended up spending a good half hour sat in the garden just watching this steady stream of birds visit what became our own little bird B&Q.

In the end we left the bush there for almost a week so it could be properly picked over. It only got moved when the rain came and washed mud all over the path, but in that time I found myself going out and sitting in the garden more than I usually would, just watching them.

Focusing on the moment and not rushing ahead to plan the next thing or get the next job done doesn’t come naturally to me at all, but for that time I spent watching the birds gather their DIY materials, my mind properly slowed down and I actually relaxed.

I’ve noticed it inside the house as well.

I’ve properly fallen in love with our dining room since we gave it a mini-glow up. It’s one of those rooms that’s starting to feel like us, even though it’s nowhere near finished yet, and I’ve found myself going in there on a morning just to enjoy being in it.

At first I was sitting at the table, which sounds normal enough, but I quickly realised it didn’t feel relaxing at all. Sitting there almost made my brain switch straight into “doing mode” because that’s where I sit to plan meals, sort life admin and do anything even slightly work-y.

So instead of feeling calm, I felt like I should be ticking something off a list.

It’s quite a big room though, and the old owners had left a chair in the corner, so we moved that slightly, added a big comfy cushion and I started sitting there instead.

And honestly, it’s made such a difference – there’s something about that little corner that just feels separate from everything else. I can sit there with a drink, look around the room, and actually relax without feeling like I should be doing anything at all so I make time every morning to do this. 

Now that I’m back at work, life is going to get busy again and I know how easy it would be just to slip back into rushing from one thing to the next without really stopping. 

I fully intend to make a conscious effort to keep carving out these little moments of calm in my days where I can, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

Because it turns out they’re the bits I enjoy the most.

I’d love you follow me on Twitter and it would be amazing to see you over on my Facebook page and on Instagram. If you’re interested, you can find out more about me here and while I’ve got your attention, if you’re wondering why some of my posts lately are a little bit less frugal then have a read of this post. 😉

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