So where am I going with this? Well a friend shared something at the beginning of the month which I was about to scroll past when I realised that it was from The Samaritans so I thought I'd take a closer look. It was an action calendar for New Things in November from the Action for Happiness organisation (which I'd never heard of). Anyway according to them
"our members take action to increase wellbeing in their homes, workplaces, schools and local communities. Our vision is a happier world, with fewer people suffering with mental health problems and more people feeling good, functioning well and helping others"
I know that trying to achieve these aims takes more than a jolly calendar but I thought I'd give it a go. Sometimes I do need reminding to take time out for me and remember that there is more to life than working on the house.
So half way through this is how I'm doing:
1st - List? I am queen of lists, I have a notebook in which I make a new one every day. Easy!
2nd - I bought a French foodie magazine which meant new recipes and an opportunity to improve my French
3rd - now we're in the barn Andrew has been able to get his record player out. We had salvaged some old LP's from my father and I really enjoyed this one
4th - swapped this to the 12th. And failed on the good cause
5th - well I sort of did this as we reversed Mortimer's morning walk. We did notice different things, and remembered that we didn't do it this way because it's a heck of a hill!
6th - I liked doing this as for the last two years cooking has been quite repetitive. Now I have a kitchen it's so much better and I made roasted butternut squash soup - a new recipe for me
7th - a little bit of a 'really?' reaction on this one from me
8th - failed miserably!
9th - I have PhotoShop Express on my iPad which I haven't really got to grips with so I did manage a little training session. Not sure it classifies as a new skill but definitely an improvement of knowledge
10th - this was a doddle - we took Mortimer out for a long walk around Château de Sédières
11th - I have a new interest in West German art pottery, a subject I know very little about so it was quite nice to feel I had dispensation to do research. Only managed one subject not three
 |
| My new West German vintage floor lamp |
12th - remember I swapped this from the 4th? Well it was a bit of a cheat as I did know this lady, but only superficially, from my visits to Emmaüs. I invited her over for coffee and it was lovely to find out more about her life
13th - not really achieved. I did write a blog post but most of the day was spent stripping wallpaper! Although I did think a lot about the interior design of the house
14th - best I could on this one was a French language tip I heard on Coffee Break French which I shared with Andrew
15th - I thought I might struggle on this one. Fortunately it's Children in Need day so I've paid a lot more attention to some of the children on the BBC radio telling their stories
Halfway there and not too bad. Some things I've done superficially but it has made me take time away from the new project which hasn't been a bad thing. I'll let you know how part two goes.
As always you can follow our life in Corrèze here on Facebook
Like you I tend to ignore all this kind of stuff on social media. But this looks worth a go. Is it too late to start do you think?
ReplyDeleteI don't see why you couldn't Margaret. You could either pick the month up now and swap the 1st November to the 1st December or ignore the date completely and just do the next 30 days. I haven't looked but it's possible the organisation do one each month. Some days have been a bit of a challenge but I have enjoyed it so far.
ReplyDelete