Yesterday I was in an old graveyard wandering around with baby in carrier on front , husband to talk to whilst our boys climbed merrily in old churchyard trees ("Mummy I'm Lord Horatio Nelson!" "I am a piwate ARRGH!") They were busy and didn't need me hovering over them . Walking between the gravestones we spotted a Mopoke sitting on the edging. I found after a quick Google that it wasn't ill, it was defending itself. By sitting still and closing it's eyes. That's the defence mechanism. Pretend you aren't there and hope everything will go away. Needs work if you ask me although to be fair I have had moments like that myself except I call it an anxiety disorder! Gentle wandering in the Winter sun, children climbing trees and playing rowdy imagination games, random Mopokes, being with family these things have a very soothing effect for me and I found the whole thing very rejuvenating.
I tried cutting down on calories last week this did not have a soothing effect on me. It's a switch that makes me feel extremely deprived and hangry* I don't do well with feelings of deprivation or low blood sugar so I stopped it. I would rather feel content and tubby quite frankly, as long as my health is good. So Sunday morning I baked pumpkin gingerbread and chocolate granola, bread and biscotti. This also has a soothing effect.
Yoga has a soothing effect for me, all that breathing and stretching and gooey feeling calm. I am not going to go to an Ashram but everytime I get back to the smallest amount of Yoga I feel content and calm and it's like coming home to myself, even a few minutes has this effect.
My beloved likes to pop on the headphones and listen to some Youtube-d music for a good while or play with an old car.
It's a great part of growing older and wiser, getting to know yourself, what bits are really you and what can be discarded. Getting to know my own personal happiness touchpoints is a great step in a positive direction (although if there has to be Mopokes it could be tricky).
I think that we all would benefit from taking the time to observe what actually soothes our soul, the things that genuinely bring the warm flow of happiness into our hearts. The results can be surprising. What are your personal happiness touchpoints?*hangry is of course being so hungry you feel angry.
A bank manager just left discussing new plans- labouring the relationship metaphor of the previous posts we are onto a rebound purchase which if things happen will make a lot of our dreams come true. Simple ones and complicated ones. But if it happens I will babble about it all the time and you will get sick of it.
We had an adventure the other day, I made pattycakes (not cupcakes- elaborate swirls of buttercream end in tears here!) and popcorn and cheese straws, packed some carrots and we had a mini picnic by a river. The sun was shining, the roses were blooming, there were ducks- there was a platypus for Heaven's sake. we rambled along the river after a frenzied attack of eating (or having a picnic as the boys call it) and watched canoeing. It was simple and it was good. I find that living in Tasmania offers such a huge range of opportunities for incredibly simple but incredibly rich experiences. Like a platypus in the river in the middle of town, rambling echidnas, gorgeous views and amazing produce. I know I should be cooking intricate dishes with tiny bits and pieces with the produce but strawberries, cherries, carrots tomatoes all get eaten in their natural state, hot smoked salmon or cheeses are lucky to be given a bit of bread before they are eaten!
By the way that reminds me- I used to think rice paper rolls were expensive but the other night I made some, all julienne vegetables, prawns, noodles whilst trying to stop the baby crying, avoiding the cat and listening to Peppa Pig, managed to make about 8 of them (not enough for dinner) only to be told by the boys they didn't like them and made them a pot of spaghetti instead. Whoever can knock those things out quickly and elegantly deserves the money.
