Last week was a challenging week. I
generally manage to stay pretty zen about the stresses in my life, and I try pretty hard to not obsess or dwell on stuff that gets me down, but I've been totally rubbish at that lately. Work suddenly stepped up a notch and is Busy and Hard, and I'm feeling the pressure of the millions of things I've got to get done before the next Festival rolls around. Aah!
So here's an effort to remember that life doesn't just revolve around work, and there's lots of nice things to be happy about! I remember reading about how making a note of things you were grateful for actually contributed to feeling better in your life, and that's what my
happy thoughts series is all about.
These are three of the things that are cheering me up right now...
1. Riley
Riley cat is coming to visit!
If you're a long-time reader you might recognise this furry face - he's my very lovely, fluffy
cat, who due to life-happenings, now lives with my ex's parents. For the last few years I've been Riley's holiday home, and it is such a treat to get to hang out with him (even if he covers my flat in cat hairs). Riley's here for the next week and I am so excited for purring cat times!
2. Stardew Valley
Help me, I am OBSESSED. My very nice boyfriend downloaded
Stardew Valley for me (which has resulted in me taking ownership of his Switch) and honestly it is the only thing I want to do with my time. I only want to tend my tiny adorable farm, and look after adorable animals, and harvest adorable crops. When I'm not playing it, I'm reading the
Stardew Valley reddit, or thinking about my planting strategy.
I am a 32 year old woman! This is not how I thought actual grown ups behaved! But I don't care, it's so much fun, and if you ever enjoyed Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing or SimFarm, you have to give it a go.
3. Queer Eye
If you haven't watched
Queer Eye on Netflix yet, girrrrrl what are you doing with your life? I was not prepared for the pure emotion of this show - it's taken all the fun of a makeover show, but added amazing emotional depth and maturity and PURE JOY. It's a spin off from the original show, but this time they battle toxic masculinity and encourage positive self-reflection, and it's so pure and joyful and emotional - I was sobbing in the first 20 minutes of the first episode. It's so good!
I was delighted to discover that Jonathan, the show's groomer and definitely the best one, also has a podcast:
Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness. He's just a lovely person to listen too, and I am super into the variety of really interesting subjects he covers - he's got pirates! AI! Politics! Gender identity! Fashion! Sort-of everything! And it's earnest and funny and interesting.
So, it's a new week. I'm going to put my energy into the nice moments, and do my best to not over-analyse or dwell on the stressy stuff (and if I do, I'll just rewatch Queer Eye until I have some perspective and feel better again!).