the360lifejourney

Feb 3, 20218 min read

You can take your candle and -- I mean, fix your wheel!

Sharing is caring! At least that's what they tell me so I'm going to share with you! I'm doing a series about activities I'm doing to augment my mental health and self-care routine. Don't worry, it's free and easy.

Why do this? Apart from tiring of materialism overshadowing self-care, there are plenty of reasons to share and discuss resources. We've been prescribed these expensive creams, candles, bubble baths, and gadgets as magic self-care elixirs for our souls. Generally, they aren't necessary, and often they serve to distract and confuse us. Yes, distracting you from looking at life and making real changes. Confusing you because you bought the candle, why aren't you ok now?

There's nothing wrong with those fun items. Splurges have a legitimate place in our lives. It becomes a problem when we buy our gadget and we feel frustrated and lost because it didn't fix us. Many of us have little idea of how to take care of ourselves. We don't know how to check the areas where we need more care. Plus, once we do figure out that there's an area of our lives that needs help, we buy a thing to fix it. Usually, it doesn't. It doesn't teach us how to fix anything.

Also, I'm frugal, therefore frugal ideas are what I want to talk to you about. I've shared a resources list at the bottom to give you access to any of this information that inspires you!

First of all, how is your wheel doing?

I recently was part of an Unpotato challenge by Rowena Tsai. Her 4-week challenge is free! Each topic is accompanied by a video and workbook (did I say free?). If you are craving social interaction, she has set up a community on an app called Vibely. A fellow pilgrim on the app taught me this.

I learned that our health is like a wheel. Everyone is good at taking care of a few parts of their wheel, but often we don't know how to care for all parts of it. Each part of the wheel needs care, or else you have one lumpy ride.

I am breaking up the items/activities I am suggesting to you based on the categories of this wheel. We will organize by the mind, social, body, environmental, spirit, finances, and emotions/heart. There will definitely be some overlap between these groups, which is good for us! A two for one deal! I told you I was cheap, I mean frugal, right?

Now, I don't know about you, but I've had one lumpy ride! It is time to fix this wheel and get out on the road! Look at the areas below and evaluate your health in them. Anything you could add to help yourself out? If you are feeling a little lumpy, keep reading because there are ideas below and more coming!

Body/Mind I recently completely Yoga with Adriene's 30 days of yoga journey called Breath #YWABreath. It is a free series and it is fantastic for the beginner. It was so different than many of her other journeys! Will you see an increase in strength and flexibility? Oh yes, but that's not all! She takes a little time before every session to get you in a cleaner clearer mindset. You'll learn to be nicer to yourself and others.

Spirit/Mind/Emotions

I'm a writer. I just love doing it. Back when I had writer's block, I picked up a book called The Artist's Way. It has brilliant information in it to help people get back to the roots of their creativity (generally what you loved as a child). It also helps fight those demons that say you cannot be creative and you can't do it just for the fun of doing it! Heavens no! The point is, I picked up this step by step program and adopted a great many of the ideas from it.

One of those beloved ideas was the idea of the morning pages. If you're like me, you're busy. If you decide to pick up a positive habit, it is helpful if it impacts multiple areas of your life in a positive way. I would definitely recommend morning pages to get the most bang for your buck and your time.

Morning pages, how do you do it?

1. Get a notebook (an ugly cheap one).

2. Then write 3 pages before you do anything else.

NOTE: The three pages can be anything. Seriously. It can be your grocery list. It can be a brain dump. It can be a prayer and as simplistic as deciding what you are going to say to that company that failed to deliver.

My morning pages are generally a combination of all these things!

If that isn't enough to inspire you, let's add more value to the activity.

I recently watched a fantastic video by Nathaniel Drew, who showed how he plans the next three months of his life. He uses a pen and paper and calls it analog. I love pen and paper. I am an analog person, much like him. I find that brainstorming this way, helps me better organize and process thoughts and emotions. I am also a very visual person. His video sparked an idea in my mind; what if I adapted his 3-month organization method to my daily needs and use it as part of my morning pages? So that is what I do!

How do you do it?

1. After I dump everything out of my brain as far as my emotions and spirit, I structure the daily grind.

2. I write my to-do list in no order.

3. I organize it by priority (I use A, B, C, or 1,2,3 for example).

4. Then I bundle things together based on similarities, if possible.

For example, I hate phone calls. I hate calling anyone for anything. I especially hate phone calls to companies. If I have a couple of phone calls to do, I'll bundle those together to get them out of the way. I bundle my house cleaning.

Do you now understand why I am urging you to use your ugliest notebook? I'm scribbling on this and I can't get myself to do that in a beautiful journal. It feels wrong! The layout changes often based on what visual layout makes the most sense to me that day.

I've recently enjoyed creating a wheel, labeled with the different aspects of self-care, and ensuring that there's a little something supporting each area. I sometimes refer to the diagram below if I need a quick idea for supporting a particular area of my life that day.

Social/Emotional

I'm not great with social. My wheel gets bumpy here.

As a writer, I love spending time with my work. But, I know this isn't good for my mental health, nor is it good for me creatively. Awhile back, I made a list of relationships that matter to me and scheduled a day to reach out to those people. The pandemic started me thinking about the quality of my relationships. Am I taking every opportunity to support this aspect of myself during this time?

A topic discussed in Rowena Tsai's Unpotato your life challenge is social. It is important to decide which you want to strengthen and which are best left in the past. One of the most important things I learned from that week's video on the topic was that not every relationship in your life is meant to be an intimate one. Sometimes someone is your acquaintance and that's it. Nothing wrong with it or them. In light of the pandemic, I recommend searching out different ways to connect. We all know about meeting people online, but not everyone enjoys that. Have you tried getting your mom to do that? I have.

Fortunately, I love pen and paper. Did I forget to tell you that? I suggest making a list of the people you want to forge a stronger connection with. Then send them a letter or postcard. I went with postcards because the pictures are engaging. It relieves the pressure to fill up space. You can say as much or as little as you have to say. With writing a letter, there's a lot of pressure to fill up the paper. I know you'll probably be texting with the person later after you've mailed the thing, but that is alright! Nothing beats getting something in the mail that isn't a bill. Nothing beats the fact that someone took time and effort to write something to you. To me, it is like getting a handmade present.

Finances/Environment

Clutter is a bad word! It clogs your space and it clogs your mind. Now if only I could convince my husband of this truth. I live in a very small amount of space (about 350 square feet or so) and I love it. Small spaces suit me. It isn't for everyone. You have to stay on top of the clutter or it will eat you alive. Ok, maybe it isn't quite that bad, but it feels that bad to me. One of the best tips for keeping my finances and environment under control, I learned from my parents. My parents are extremely clean and organized people. When I was a kid, other children were afraid to come to my house because it was so neat. You don't need to go that far, but this tool won't cost you time or money.

Here's what they taught me to do: before you make that purchase, what are you replacing? Meaning, if you are buying something, what are you throwing out, donating, etcetera? If you can't think of anything, you probably don't need that item.

This works for everything from the big to the small.

Here are a few examples:

1. Buying cat food? We're replacing the cat food that is soon to be gone. If we don't, they will eat us in our sleep.

2. Want to buy new boots? Time to donate the old boots (if they are in good condition).

3. Buying that new gorgeous lipstick or eyeshadow palette? What am I tossing out or giving away? Did one expire? Is there one in pristine condition that I can gift?

4. Buying a new car? Replacing the old car? Selling the old car?

It might seem strange to do this with everything, but it actually can stop you from buying things that you don't need or won't ever use. I don't know how many people I have visited and they have told me that they've only worn that shirt or shoes one time. One time? Is that worth the money? Is that worth the clutter? Not in my book. Do your finances, your environment (where you live), and your brain a favor and cut the clutter.

I hope you've enjoyed this post as much as I've enjoyed sharing the information with you! Feel free to comment here or contact me with questions or concerns at the360lifejourney@gmail.com.

Take care and fix your flat tire,

Your Self-care Pixie

Resources to check out:

Want to Unpotato your life for free?

Rowena Tsai https://www.youtube.com/user/rowenatsai

Want to take care of your body and mind for free?

Check out #YWABreath for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene

Want to learn how Nathaniel Drew organizes his life?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MruNugpHDV0

Want to wake up your inner artist or just have a little more fun?

Try reading The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.

Interested in the more spiritual side of morning pages?