Monday's Mug 021

Hello, Writers of the World.

I always love to be drinking from my mugs daily, but Monday is the day I like to catch you up on what has been happening since we last talked. The weather last week was still hot, but it is still summer here, and I should expect nothing less. Why do I talk about the weather because I am a farmer? If you didn’t know, it always makes it important? Things are dry here, and we are hoping for a little rain. We want to get more hay put up before fall hits, but we don’t control the weather, so we wait and see type of game. 

While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you I am trying to savor this last week before school starts. I have not missed the buzz of the school season. However, I do love to shop the stationery. There is always homework to be done, papers I am trying to remember to send back, and things I am trying to remind my child of. Even though it has been hot this summer, we have been spending time outside, at least an hour, if not longer, hanging out in the swing or the hammock. I feel like it is important to be in the moment when I can.

While we sip from our mugs, I would share with you, and I have been closing myself off this week. My social media project is in full swing, and I am finding it is taking a lot more energy than I had originally thought. I am trying to get into a routine of posting on socials. When there are so many things going on in life, socials are some of the things I let slip.

Would you like to refill your mug? I need more water today.

While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you ideas around mindset have come up again this week. Podcasts and Youtube videos are continuing to cross my path about this. I have been things in particular about the ideas of productivity versus rest, especially this last week. Although I have been taking the time to spend with my child during the week, I don’t allow myself time off on the weekends. Not only are the weekends when I run a lot of errands weekends are typically when I am working on side projects as well. I am doing housework and planning for the following week. I tried an experiment where I did absolutely nothing on Sunday except fed us. It was great and something I felt my body and mind needed, but I was kicking myself Monday because I had so many things to catch up on. Perhaps next time I will no more Saturday. 

While we sip from our mugs, I would share with you, I haven’t been anywhere, and it is driving me crazy this week. Of course, I do not travel like I used to, but I miss it so much. I love living in the country and have learned to sustain myself for weeks on end without leaving. I miss people said the introvert shockingly lol. I miss being around the good friends I have in my life and going to the museum. Okay, I said it finally. Now back to business as usual.  

Until next time just write. 

Monday's Mug 019

Hello, Writers of the World. 

Welcome back to Monday's Mug! I always love to be drinking from my mugs daily, but Monday is the day I like to catch you up on what has been happening since we last talked. Tonight I am drinking water because it has been sweltering and humid here these last few days. All my fall feels are being pushed to the back burner, and summer has decided to show she means business. August usually is the hottest month we have, and sometimes I seriously consider moving further north. Do you enjoy the weather where you live?

While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you last week was especially busy I had four meetings this last week. I haven't had that many in a couple of months now, but they were all exceptional. The first one was with StoryADay SuperStars. We usually have an online get together once a month, and this time I actually got to attend. It was excellent to interact with some writers I haven't before. I appreciate listening to where everyone is and what their interests are. Towards the end, I really started to open up more about things going on in my life and who I am. As quiet as most people think I am when I feel comfortable enough, I won't stop talking. Is there something about you people assume but are wrong about?

While we sip from our mugs, I would share with you, I was a part of a write-in a friend hosted. This event was online at night, and it totally up my alley. We had a little prompt, and I created a short children's story—afterward, we did some writing sprints and had breaks to talk to each other. There were writers I had never met before. Still, it was fabulous to meet new people and expand my writing community. It made me feel great to see my friend stepping out for me and helping me by writing in at night to help me get back in the groove of writing. When it comes to writing, there were a lot of things I have been struggling with. Being able to find a write-in at night has been one of the items at the top of my list. Is there something you have been struggling with a lot this year. 

Would you like to refill your mug? I know I need to.

While we sip from our mugs, I would tell you I had a meeting about social media. I have been educating myself about social media for a while now. I enjoy helping others navigate the platforms and to share the knowledge I have learned. There was a day trip to the lake yesterday, but I didn't go swimming or go out on the water. Actually, I make myself ill driving to the lake house. It was a great day of sharing and building relationships with a team I am a part of for a single mom's group I help out with. 

While we sip from our mugs, I would share with you the thrill I have had for writing has started to grow again. There are days now I can focus on writing, and I am picking up more story sparks. I am trying to work on my consistency and keep promises to myself about what I am ready to accomplish. There has been a lot of mindset changes underway, and there are so many times now throughout the day, I am excited about writing a new story. I am so thrilled about this because my mind has been under construction for me a lot this year. Is it easy for you to keep your promises to yourself?

Let me know how you are doing in the comments below. 

Until next time just write. 

The Gratitude Experiment

When you take time off from anything, make sure you are using that time to dig deep in your soul about things you might have been putting off.  One of my focuses on my time off was my mindset. This year I have been trying to understand mindset because there have been so many mentally taxing this year. In fact, most of the people I have been talking to have said this year has been mentally crazy and exhausting. I guess it could be said about every year, but it is not valid. 

So, I finally broke down and read the Power of Positive Thinking and watched many YouTube videos about positive thoughts, gratitude, and inspiration. I fed my mind with these positive things because, in my struggle, I am running out of the alternatives.  

You know when you are so sick you decide to try something because you are like what could it hurt? It is where I was within reason, of course, and sat there thinking over a week what could it hurt to try positive thinking and gratitude?

Now I am a skeptic and very analytical when it comes to adding new things in my life. While researching positive thinking, there were a lot of ways people had mentioned to go about becoming more positive. Some of the suggestions were getting rid of toxic people, getting rid of clutter, and spending more time on self-care. When I looked at these particular items, I thought positive thinking wasn’t going to work. How could I avoid toxic people they are everywhere? I’ve been unpacking my life box by box for years now after a move I have clutter all over until I can sort through things. I love the idea of self-care, and of course, I would love to spend more time on it, but I am a single parent, so I only get so many minutes in that department. Was I making excuses, of course, I was because I wanted it to be comfortable and not make my life harder. I am a baby steps kind of person. 

Upon further research into the positive thinking world, I found people using affirmations, vision boards, and gratitude lists. These were things I felt like I could make time for and experiment with. I needed to make this accessible anywhere because there were many times when I wasn’t home and need a way to pick myself up. I decided to go with the Trello app. I have used the free version of Trello to track my writing, so using it for something else essential to be well being seemed to fit.  Trello could be accessed from any device or through the website. 

The Experiment. 

1. Find some affirmations that would apply. 

It was easy to find some affirmations online; there are lists of them everywhere. I found a couple pictures that had lists of affirmations I knew applied to things I needed to change my mind about. I copied these pictures and added them to a happy board I created. Writing has been important to me for many years, so I also found just two of my favorite writing quotes and one inspirational quote to keep me motivated.

2. Gratitude list 

I created a board in Trello to list three things I was grateful for in the morning, which was a great way to keep myself off social media in the early morning hours. These could be simple things or complex ideas. Some days I was thankful for AC, and other days I was grateful for the galaxy.

3. Victories List

 I decided to create a list for victories of the day that I have seen used in particular planners. I had been struggling with feeling like I have been making progress in my goals, so at night, I would list three things as my victories. This was anything from I had a customer thank me for my dedication, I got to go to bed early, or I had a good talk with my kiddo about school. 

4. Vision Board

 My vision board was just a few pictures of how I would like to see my life in the next few years. Images were representing relationships, my living situation, joy, and a variety of other ideas. 

I did all of these things for a solid month, and my positivity was through the roof. I had the energy to lift others up who were having a bad day. I was not nearly upset with the circumstances of my life. It was unusual how much changed and how my point of view really shifted. 

I stopped to see if it would make a difference, and let me tell you it did. Within a couple weeks of stopping, I wasn’t right back where I started, but I could feel the pressure and anxiety begin to build again. So if you are having a hard time writing like I was or just dealing with the personal things going on in your life, give gratitude a chance and see what it can do for you. 

*This is not meant to take the place of medical advice. If you are having mental health problems, please seek help. If you are having suicidal thoughts, please contact the suicide hotline at call 1-800-273-8255.