Just Write

Something that has always stuck with me, although I don't know where I got it from, is to just write. It doesn't matter what you write, just that you do write. Maybe it came from a high school English teacher, or maybe it came from Stephen King, or one of my masters supervisors, who knows, but it's good advice. There are so many different styles of writing, and I really enjoyed writing my daily stream-of-consciousness blog yesterday. You can check that out "here". I enjoyed it so much that I thought I'd do another one. I hope you enjoy my daily rambles.

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Just Write

If you're ever stuck on something, start writing. It doesn't really matter what you write. You could write about your day, your life, or a fictional story. You could even write about the things you are grateful for. I love writing. It's always been a passion of mine, and I feel so grateful that I get to do it as part of my job and kinda always have (I'm talking about my academic career here, obvs & my blogs). I'm wondering if I should start reaching out to the big companies and pitching them articles. I read about someone who writes for Listverse somewhere online the other day. Who knows what could happen? I just don't know where to start. Somewhere right?

Right now it's 2:05 PM on Thursday here in Melbourne. The weather today is freezing! It's down to 6 degrees Celsius, and after having so many 24 C days, it feels soooo cold. Winter is definitely here. I've got both dogs here with me today (Benji and Frankie) as Luke and his brother have a funeral to attend. We'd normally have Frankie today anyway, as their parents are holidaying it up in Europe right now (jealous). I'm not sure if we'll get a walk in with this weather, but right now Benji and Frankie are chilling with their toys on the floor in front of me. They're getting much better at being together in the same space - they just always wanna have the same toy LOl! Benji has even been giving up his bed for Frankie to be comfortable and cosy; he probably knows that Frankie is missing his mum and dad.

I was meant to do my strength training yesterday afternoon, but I just felt so tired that I ended up doing it this morning. Luke also had a doctor's appointment as he had the day off, and we went to the chemist and shops to pick up a few things. I also had some waffles for lunch, which were delicious, and now my tummy is a bit grumpy at me. I'm not sure whether it was from my iron supplements last night or from the waffles I had for lunch. Ugh, #justibsthings. I also had my electrolytes this morning, so that might be a culprit, too. I'm sure we are one step closer to figuring out my health issues.

Speaking of health issues, I've been doing a few things that are making me feel like myself again. I think I've lost a lot of myself with the health stuff and fatigue, and I miss "Ashy". I miss the bad-a$$ version of myself who knew everyone and would talk to absolutely anyone and make friends just like that - I know she's in there somewhere, I just gotta bring her out. Anyway, my point here is this is a bullet point list of things I am doing to help me feel more like myself again:

• Strength training + adding in my own exercises, such as core workouts and yoga poses to help with my back pain from my slipped disc (and a strong core acts as a second heart muscle)

• Making sure I get outside every day, even if it's not for very long, but we've been walking Benji most days for about an hour (it's helping my body become conditioned to fitness again)

• Adding in one exercise for me per week that's fun, e.g., a walking pad + weights workout, a fun aerobic dance workout or just a random cardio workout. I've also seen people do silly YouTube video game ones that I'd like to try

• Cooking more - not every single meal, but cooking is such a big passion of mine, and I miss it so much, but doing easier meals - like chicken wraps and quesadillas this week has been great. I think I talked about this yesterday, so I won't go into more detail

• Adding in more fibre to my diet - chia seeds, kiwifruit, avocado, oats, etc. It's helping my tummy a little bit, and I am feeling fuller from main meals. Also, just listening to what my body wants in general (some days it wants super clean foods and other days, I might want a snack, and I find it really important to listen there)

• Making more of an effort to socialise and ask people questions (yes, the Dale Carnegie way)

• Making fun electrolyte drinks with coconut water instead of drinking disgusting salty water every day (yuck)

• Always having fresh flowers around

• Doing more mindfulness - I seem to get better sleep when I do a guided meditation before bed. I'm not as good as I used to be with my astral projection, but I'm sure I can get it back

• Spending quality time with animals

• Making an effort to make my photos look aesthetic and glowy, and just taking more nature photos in general

• Having a trip planned to Vancouver, Canada, in August - this has helped me immensely and given me so much motivation

• Seeing my therapist regularly

• Making sure I always have something to look forward to! Obviously, Canada is a big one, but some days it's as simple as a TV show (like tonight is Taskmaster Australia) or getting a fun coffee or seeing a friend. It's mostly just really simple stuff

• Setting boundaries clearly and effectively, even if that's just "no"

Damn, this turned into a way longer list than I expected. Maybe I'll make it its own blog post and/or Instagram post eventually.

I also started watching the TV show Shrinking, and I honestly didn't know what to expect. it's good, but it's also a strange thing to watch when you know a professional psychologist would never be like Jason Segel's character, haha!

I'm definitely still struggling with my mental health, but I'm hoping that if I put in the work, one day things will just start clicking again (I hope that makes sense). There is SO much going on for me mentally and physically (mentally = OCD, cPTSD, anxiety, panic attacks; physically = IBS, suspected POTS, and whatever the f*ck is going on with my blood markers).

It started raining again, and both dogs got confused at the sounds coming from outside, their little heads tilted - it was soooo cute! I think someone is also opening their garage door or jingling their keys. I should have taken them for a walk before, damn. Maybe we'll do some inside training instead and see what the weather does.

Anyway, I don't think I have much else to say today, so I'm going to end the blog here.

Thank you for reading!

Much love,

Ash xx