i wish i could say i entered november calmer than i spent october, but i’ll be honest – with the impending election and the surety that no matter what, there will be discord resulting from it, i’m pretty stressed. pile on top of that still working from home, so i’m pretty much alone all day long, yet tied to my computer and not leaving my house as often, i’m a little anxious about what november has to bring. for that reason, i’m jumping back into my monthly intentions posts to help set some guardrails for improving my mental and physical health this month. here’s how i’m going to do it:
create more
if you noticed, i was pretty quiet on the shopgolden30 front during the month of october. i found that i was overwhelmed with life and just burnt out on all fronts. it’s hard to be creative when you barely have enough brain power to decide between mac and cheese and tacos for dinner. enough with that! i’ve been getting back into the groove lately and creating more, which in turn, feeds my brain and makes me happier. i’m LOVING the requests for specific teams, so keep them coming! i’m also focusing on some more of those fun, vintage outdoors-y ones since it’s full hunting mode at my house.
decorate for the holidays
the last time i ever felt fully “ahead of schedule” for the holidays is when i was prego with logan. i think i channeled all of my nesting into getting ready for the holidays that year. this year we will be hosting (for one year only — don’t worry mom!) AND taking holiday card photos in our house, so i want to have it decorated. not to mention, it makes me happy, and i’m clinging onto anything joyful for dear life these days. most important? my kids are at such fun ages to start experiencing the magic and i’m all for prolonging that before we head into the doldrums that are january – april in minnesota.
thoughtful holiday shopping
i LOVE finding the P E R F E C T gift for someone, to the point where i considered being some sort of gift-hunter as a side-gig (still considering it, because i LOVE it). this year, i want to be cognizant of not only the gift recipient, but who the business is behind the gift. i’ll be sharing more thoughtful, small biz/local ideas to help generate business in my own community. talk about a win-win!
ditch the scale + better sleep
ok so i tried this little experiment with myself in october, and i kind of liked how it went. i weighed myself at the beginning of the month and then at the end, but put my scale away the entire month! talk about freeing. now, i wouldn’t say i’m a slave to the scale, but i’ve really wanted to get back to “where i was pre-baby,” whatever that means (which baby? where was i, really?). putting the scale away let me focus more on what made me feel good (lots of salads, lots of reeses), and what do you know, nothing bad happened. i’m going to try that again in november. it really did free up a lot of headspace when i was just eating what made me feel good, whether that was physically or emotionally. because sometimes you just need to eat a blizzard while you watch the sh*t-show that was the presidential debate(s). along with that, i slept better. i slept deeper and more soundly, and felt the need to drink less caffeine during the day.
if there’s one consistent theme this november, it’s creating joy in the day. i mean, the whole concept of golden thirty//shopgolden30 is to elevate your everyday. now is my time to return to that, so i can be my *literal* best self.
