Radical Self Care Bubble
Well, how did it get to December already?
I’ve been in a radical self-care bubble for the last several months, reducing my media consumption and other things to take care of myself, which previously hadn’t been on my radar for the last couple of years, and this time out has started to pay off.
I know it’s hard to talk about these things when life exists so differently for others in other parts of the world right now, and the shame that can evoke the blessings others of us seem to have at the same time.
“We cannot control the external events around us, but we can control our reactions to them.” Epictetus.
Therefore, I’ve been working on building my resilience and strength via different modalities to help more from a place of strength and not weakness.
Life is full of polarities, and there is never a straight line forward.
If one thing is for sure, something I’ve found of help over the last few months was leaning into my community. And for someone who is a relative newcomer to this area, it’s taken time to find.
At first, I found I was a little too eager to find like-minded people. My mindset was in a little different place than it is now, but stepping back and reflecting on who and what I really wanted in my life has enabled me to organically start to find similar women, dealing with similar life milestones (um, teens, and high school!!!) and also wanting the same things for their families and themselves.
Volunteer work at my kid’s school has really opened this up for me tenfold, and I’ve met some beautiful, ambitious, smart and caring women who are likewise community-minded.
Also, a little part-time work in my community artisan markets has opened me up to meeting some very clever and multi-talented artists who have decided to live their lives differently. Through these connections, we’ve started back at our beloved salsa dancing classes during the week and have also helped support their work.
Work-wise, I also made the decision to step back to focus on some personal pursuits after a couple of years of feeling a little creatively blocked and uninspired in my direction. I allowed myself to take time offline to focus on life in front of me, my health and wellbeing and my family and home life. It has been a healing and healthy time and has also given me the space to reflect on what is next for 2024.
I want to share a little more with you about what I have planned for you in 2024, but I am still in the gestation phase, and I don’t like to share things before they’re ready these days, but all I can say, keep an eye out in January where I’ll share all about it and how you can get involved if you so wish.
Here’s a hint, though: I’ll be sharing more of my journey over the last several months and the tools, practices and things I’ve done to turn everything around, rebuild my window of tolerance and resilience and bring back my sparkle as I head into perimenopause :)
I’ll also be reactivating my Instagram in 2024, which has been a lovely break, but now I’m ready and juiced to get back to sharing some helpful content that I’ve been squirrelling away on over these several months. I’ve also signed up for more studies aligned with my work online since 2009.
I want to take this time to send you and your family so much love, joy and peace for this end of year, no matter how you spend or celebrate it.
Thank you for being here,
See you in 2024 xxx
Robyn
PS I’ve done a few audio versions of my newsletters in the past. Is this something you’d prefer to read rather than read? Hit reply and let me know :)