the august note.

Hey, hi, hello,

As always, I hope July has treated you well and that you have learnt something new about the people around you while building upon yourself some more. Before we dive in, I want to mention this will consist of much past tense phasing, however I mean the message to apply in a current sense simultaneously. Please keep that in mind, because this is my thank you to all parents, we know this is your first time living too.

Without further ado..

Adulthood, the freedom to act as one chooses within the  means of societal constructions that have now become necessity (working to live a life of exchange). SO, you can stay out late, drink whatever you decide, skip out on breakfast, doom scroll before and after sleeping, you can even decide that outside and eating fruit is not a priority– I mean OR the bits and pieces of that,and the opposite perhaps. 

There seems to be a portion of life where we place the importance of ensuring our core needs on the back burner. THAT is why I’m here, to remind you of that foundation that was built by your parents. It shouldn’t be allowed to crumble, instead you must honour it by extending to the highest standard with your own ideals in focus now and hold yourself accountable to get to higher ground. 

As children our parents provide us with an incomparable structure maintained by the desire for us to grow into the strongest, most capable versions of ourselves. During that period of life we eat three or more meals a day, drink lots of water, and sleep for a reasonable amount of time. We also have plenty of physical activity while also fitting in time with both friends and family.

I know life gets in the way, but how did they maintain all that for us, in addition to themselves. The fact is some weren’t able to, however this is where I get down to the nitty gritty, I don’t have children, so you might agree there’s no excuse for me to not be making time for all of those mentioned foundational actions. Although, I never once said that I was perfect! In saying THAT, something I struggle with is consistently having a nutritious breakfast. Sometimes at work I'll grab a piece of toast, but this is not always the case. In my effort to change this, I’m finally going to test out overnight oats and add it to my habit tracker– because there’s nothing worse than planning to do something, then looking at the end of the week to see that you have NOT ticked all the boxes. Plus I’m pretty competitive with myself (and honest), always striving for the perfect week on paper. 

If you don’t already, keep yourself on track, leaving nothing behind by keeping a planner, to-do list, or even a calendar (google/something else or physical) for the week with all your tasks and habits. Eventually it will become merely a safety net style reminder. 

I know I always go back to the planner, when I was younger my mum was my post-it note that would always update and recall the happenings that required remembering. Now in adulthood, I've had to learn what works for me like everyone else.

So, thanks mum for guiding me.

The july note.

Hey, hi, hello,

I hope everyone who’s experiencing this winter season in Australia is enjoying it, or staying rugged up at least. On top of that I sincerely wish June has been good to you!

* * *

Recently, I’ve found that things have slowed, but my mind still is in tangles. Thoughts sticking like fettuccine pasta fr! Until one morning this month I was browsing youtube, and stumbled happily upon a person explaining the different uses for their various notebooks. One was for quotes, spontaneous thoughts and other lines of inspiration, there was a second which I've now forgotten… then the third purposeful notebook, was my saviour, the book for morning pages. The overall idea was that each notebook freed up space in the mind, to allow more room to experience the day at play, but lets focus in on Morning Pages.

What are morning pages you ask? An article by The Guardian mentions the first major introduction of the process was in a book titled The Artists Way in 1992. The writing task asks that participants use three whole pages of paper to express the thoughts that linger, during the first moments of the morning. There are only two rules to this process that must be followed (even I find a little tricky); 1.) writing first thing in the morning and 2.) filling three whole pages. The great thing about this task is if you cannot think of anything you may simply write about nothing, eventually something will come up… Burkeman (2014, not a scholarly dude, but a journo) explains that the blurry eyed morning writing sessions are closely associated with creativity; with the part of your brain that would usually hold you back, still warming up. So this is the perfect time to write about events that are bothering you, achievements and paths for big plans or even annoyances. 

 When I completed morning pages for the first time it was easy, because I had so much on my mind that I needed to reconcile. Once I wrote about those topics I was free from them, for the rest of the day I didn’t think about the things that had been written about other than the fact that I hadn't thought about them all day. Admittedly, after the first few times it became more difficult to write about things that were in my conscious thoughts, because the previous morning pages had ridded me of the burden. Also, I'm not perfect, making this a habit is going to be a feat in itself for me, so if you try it, don’t be discouraged by inconsistency at the start. 

Just keep in mind that only good can come from trying and trying again. 

Yours Truly,