Tag: relaxing

5 simple pleasures

A more cheerful post, following yesterday’s gloom and doom fest!

It’s very easy to get caught up in the need to own things, do things, go places, eat out, see stuff and do stuff. I’m terrible for it. But I’m currently feeling the need to strip it all back and do simple (and cheap!) things that will make me happy.

Simple pleasures

Here’s what I have in mind:

Reading
I got through a couple of books on holiday and really enjoyed them. I want to devote more time to reading again. Curling up on the sofa for a couple of hours and burying my head in a book.

Clearing out old clothes, make up and nail varnishes
This probably won’t make me happy at the time, as I find tidying so dull! But I’ve probably been having some sort of clear out constantly now for about, ooh, 5 years! I need to finally nail it, get rid of all the crap and get my wardrobe/floordrobe in order. Plus I have so much out of date makeup. I was looking for a nail polish last night and found one in my box that I know has to be around 8 years old. Urgh. It’s taking up valuable space so I need to declutter and downsize.

Clearing out my car
I’ve always been one for keeping my car relatively tidy, but in the last couple of months it seems to have descended into a junk skip, with empty crisp packets, water bottles and even wallpaper samples just discarded on the backseat. The husband got in at the weekend and called me out on being a tramp! So this is something I can easily tick off the list and feel good about.

Going out for a walk
There are lots of nice parks and streets where I live, with woodland paths to follow and fancy houses to fantasise over. Just getting out and about, looking at the spring flowers and breathing in the fresh air is good for the soul, and I don’t do enough of it.

Watching films
I always say I haven’t got time to watch a film, or I’m not interested, but invariably I enjoy it. Last night we watched Practical Magic, which was on TV. I’d never have chosen to watch it but I really enjoyed it. Neither me or the husband have seen any of the Harry Potter films, so maybe that could be a plan.

What simple pleasures do you indulge in when you need to kick back and take it easy?

Thanks, as always, for reading! x

The phone phenomenon

Last week I read this article in Stylist magazine. And it really resonated with me, as I’m sure it does for a lot of people.

I’m hugely guilty of mindlessly flicking through my phone most nights, not with any real purpose, but just because it’s there. I’ll play a couple of rounds of Candy Crush (don’t judge me!), look up TV characters on Wikipedia while we’re watching a show, or scroll through Twitter activity. I keep promising myself that I will take my focus away from this mindless behaviour and do something more constructive, like read a book, but it rarely happens.

Even if we’re watching a film, I can never fully immerse myself and concentrate if my phone is on the sofa next to me. I get twitchy. I should probably just banish it to another room.

I’m not glued to my phone, but I do use it as a crutch – if we’re in a pub and I’m sitting on my own while someone’s at the bar, for example. And that’s just normal behaviour now I think.

One place I do totally switch off is on holiday, yet only when I’m abroad, weirdly. It used to be because the cost of using internet was so prohibitively expensive, but now it’s because of that feeling of getting away, being totally separate from everyday life, and not knowing what inane crap is going on in the real world. I relish it. I actually get quite cross with people who are very socially active during holidays. Get out there and live it people! Upload your photos when you get home. We’ll all survive if we don’t see your hotdog legs/roman ruins/swimming with dolphins pictures within a minute of it happening. The news that Mount Fuji is to get a WiFi signal because people are disgruntled that they can’t immediately upload selfies when they reach the summit is ridiculous. You’ve just conquered a mountain. Breathe in the air, check out the view. Don’t start pouting and posing and making sure you look your best for your audience at home.

Admittedly, for some reason on breaks in the UK, I do dip in and out of social media and emails. I have no explanation. Maybe it’s because they’re usually just a couple of days (I don’t know why that would make a difference). Maybe it’s because, geographically, you don’t feel as far away and therefore not as removed and switched off. Maybe I’m just a hypocrite.

However, whilst in Wales this weekend the signal was so intermittent that I hardly bothered. And it was liberating. Knowing that I couldn’t use my phone was so much easier than making a decision not to use it. Although on the odd occasion the signal did reappear I felt compelled to check in, just in case (of what, I’m not sure!)

Anyway, I’m going to try and make a change. Ditch the phone and be more productive. Now let me just go and check my texts…