The Stuff I Do For Self Care

Hello, dear readers. I hope you are well and staying safe wherever you are in this vast universe. Which could be anywhere. You never know, it's entirely possible that alien beings or other life forms are reading this. Anything is possible, right? Shut up. 

Well anyway, I am here to blather on about self care. And knock me down and blow me sideways into an alternative universe or something but it turns out that self care isn't eating crap tonnes of cakie things and hoping for the best. HMPH. Maybe that could be arranged to be a thing in the aforementioned alternative universe? Please, and thank you. 

In the meantime here are the tedious things I am attempting to put in place in no particular order. I say 'attempting to' because self care is always a stop and start thing with me. Sigh.

Here goes:

Exercise 

This sometimes takes place in the form of a walk outside but more often than not I put on a YouTube video and do it that way. The only problem with this method is that some of the instructors can be super perky and plain annoying. I don't mind Jessica Smith and Jenny Ford and if you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them. I stick to the low impact 'walking' type stuff cause I am prone to vertigo and I have to stay safe. 

I also do specific exercises for my neck and Benign Positional Vertigo. These suck, but such is life. Sigh. 

Vitamins 

I began taking a vitamin tonic called Fishers Phosphorine which I ordered here. My psychologist recommended it. It's early days so I don't know yet if it will have any effect. We shall see. I also take vitamin b complex, vitamin C and Blackmores Macu-vision as a preventative thing cause my mum has that thing where you have to have needles in your eyes and that freaks me out. Gulp. 

And most importantly, my double dose of Vitamin D: sitting in the sunshine with my cutie Channy Bear. 

Eating well

 Cue a snorty honking scoffing cynical laugh. Yes, this is still my most fraught area. I still eat way too many cakies but I do ingest some fruit and veg as well.

I've also reduced caffeine and am replacing some cups of regular tea with chamomile tea. Baby steps, as they say. Whoever 'they' are. 

Sleep 

Gotta make sure I get those zzz's. The chamomile tea helps. 

Hobbies 

I'm making time for my hobbies, like this blog. I abandoned it for a while there, but it's a good little thing for me to have as a distraction, so here I am.

I'm also making time for things like reading and listening to music. Just to mix it up and keep it cutting edge I also indulge in crosswords, fill in's and colouring in. Shut up. They are all calming activities for me. The thing is, I need a low key life. Too much stimulation and excitement is not great for this introverted 'Aspie.'  Which segues into...

Alone time 

I really need to be all by my lonesome to recharge sometimes. Alone but not lonely, if you know what I mean. This is challenging at the moment with the five of us stuck here in lockdown but luckily Mickey Blue Eyes prefers being outdoors and I like being indoors so it works out to a degree. 

And by far the most important form of self care for me at the moment is...

Admitting I need help 

My old nemesis whom I named Agnes (aka anxiety) has been biting me in the butt again after a long period of stability and growth. I had to admit I need help again. I began a low dose medication again and have a plan for some sessions with my psychologist.

Luckily I have a great GP and psychologist, and I never give up.

Having said that, if any of those potential alien readers can confirm if they have discovered an easier way to achieve self care I'm all ears. 


And don't worry, I'm onto to those shrink appointments. Ahem. 

Until next time,

Ness

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On hobbies and why I don't vlog

For many years I have wished that I had different hobbies and interests. My top four desirable interests would be:

• Sport
• Gardening
• Cooking
• Sewing

I feel that if you spend time doing the above activities then at least you have something to show for it. Meanwhile the type of passive things I do make it seem like I'm just a lazy-arsed time-wasting biatch.

These are:

• Reading
• Writing
• Blogging
• Listening to music
• Obsessing over Karen Carpenter
• Mindless web surfing and Facebook scrolling
• Aerobics

The only one that is actually helpful in life is doing aerobics. Yet somehow I never seem to look or act like those annoyingly perky and ripped aerobics instructors. Weird.

Out of all of those desired hobbies I potentially could become interested in cooking. After all, I do love food and eating. It's just that there is a certain level of organisational skill and multi-tasking that is necessary. I do not possess these attributes. Hello, self-diagnosed ADD. The internet doesn't lie, does it?

I have made some tasty chicken soup recently and some other Weight Witchy stuff. But what I really like is: CAKIES. 

However, I won't take up baking. Because if I did bake cakes then I would eat them. ALL of them. I couldn't stop at one. The only way I can avoid temptation is to never have the temptation there in the first place.


What else was I going to say?

Did I mention that I think I have ADD?

Anyway, what I was going to say before I lost my train of thought was, I basically still like all the same things I liked when I was 12.  It's comforting to know I haven't matured beyond a tween. On the other hand, I liked Nanna music (Carpenters), so maybe I was just a really mature 12 year old? Yeah, it must be that. Ahead of my time. Wisdom beyond my years and all that. Yep, totally that. 

Today I was actually supposed to be talking about vlogs. (A vlog is a video blog for the uninitiated). Specifically if I've ever made one. I haven't. Which is interesting, since I call blogging my  hobby. I didn't say I was actually any good at any of these hobbies, did I?

The reasons I've never vlogged are simple:

• I don't know how.
• I'm shy.
• I don't speak much above a whisper.
• I wouldn't know what to talk about.
• I'm strikingly beautiful and it would just make everyone jealous. 

It's possible that I made the last one up. Using possible in the sense of totally clear. Just so we're...um, clear.

However, I will put vlogging on my list of things to do in an attempt to push myself out of my comfort zone and blogging rut.

Not that these posts of me rambling on about nothing aren't totally fascinating and entertaining. Pffffft. Of course they are! It's just that I could mix it up a bit. I could verbally ramble on a video for a change. As soon as I have a personality transplant. To say I'm not particularly chatty in person is a slight understatement. Using slight in the sense of... Um, whatever the opposite of slight is. Huge? 

But getting back to hobbies. I've never been good at any of those desirable hobbies or skills because I'm a daydreamer.  It's not very handy when you're off with the pixies and a ball darts by your vacant face. For some reason, team mates become incensed. Can't think why. It's only a game. Sniff. 

Which leads me to another point. I don't really like any sort of games. Sport games, card games, board games, PS4, XBox, and just games, really. And although I'm a Facebook fan, I don't do Candy Crush or Farmville or any sort of Ville. (Yes, I'm still in Boganville, but shhhhhh, don't tell anyone). No games for this girl. 

Maybe I really am just totally anti-social? Who knows? I'm definitely not the competitive type. So I don't really have any intense urge to win or see the point of it all. Shrugs. 

When it comes to gardening, I think I'm more of an indoors person.  In fact I went outside into the sun yesterday, blinking and confused by the brightness.  I should probably get out more. 

As far as sewing goes, I guess I'm just too impatient and again, inclined to daydream. There was also the infamous Sewing Of The Finger Incident Of 1983 when I was in Year 7. I think it hurt, from my vague memory. Plus, I've always been totally spoiled and pampered by my Mum who rocks the whole cooking and sewing thing. There was no need to do it myself. Ahem. 

But it's all good because I can read, write and blog like a boss. Am I right? Rhetorical question. Please don't answer. I'm also very good at being delusional daydreaming. Winning!

I also know the lyrics to every Carpenters song ever recorded and every intricate detail of Karen Carpenter's life right down to her autopsy report. Yes, I'm deranged. This is baffling because when it comes to celebrities and celebrity gossip I have zero interest. In fact, I have no idea who half of the modern day celebrities and recording artists even are. Did I mention I'm weird? 

Okay, this weirdo is done here for now. 

Linking up for I Must Confess, Open Slather and Mummy Mondays.


Have you ever vlogged? Which hobbies do you wish you enjoyed?

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I Need A Hobby

I must confess that the only truly obsessive interest I have is my fascination with Karen Carpenter/Carpenters which I have already confessed, and frankly, it's getting bit old (to everyone else, not to me). Therefore, I really need a new hobby or interest. So, for today's I Must Confess I thought I would share this old post exploring a few options.

I MUST CONFESS: I Need A Hobby

So I logged onto the computer the other day, like I do most days, and began chatting with an online (or imaginary) friend.

"What have you been doing?" she asked, as usual.

My answer is always embarrassingly similar.

"Not much," I typed " the usual, just hanging around here."

"You don't do much, do you?" she helpfully pointed out. "You need to get a hobby."

I reminded her that I already had this blog and my Carpenters obsession, so I don't really have time for much else, but she seem unconvinced.

Perhaps she does have a point. Maybe I do need a hobby. 

So I thought I would take the opportunity to explore some options. Here goes:

SCRAPBOOKING : I currently do have several boxes of photos waiting to be sorted, so I could benefit from this hobby. However, I fear that I would go and buy all the bits and pieces and then just end up with even more stuff, without actually ever getting around to using it. So nah.

My boxes of photos awaiting sorting and my one
pitiful attempt at scrapbooking from years ago

KNITTING: This would make me feel like I'm a hundred year old woman named Enid. Oh wait, I already do feel like that when I wake up every morning, so...maybe. On second thought. No. Just. No.

CRAFT: I only have two words for this. One of them is rude. You figure it out.

ART: As I mentioned in my previous post, I possess zero artistic talent, as my greedy brother stole all the artistic genes. Hmph.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Laughable. I can never even figure out how to charge a camera or remember to take one to occasions.

GARDENING: I really, really wish I could drum up an interest in this, but alas the green thumb genes skipped me too, much to my Mum's dismay.

COOKING/BAKING: Considering my love of cakies I could possibly get into this. I may have trouble getting into to all of my clothes though, which are already alarmingly large. Too dangerous a hobby for me.

PETS: I accidentally murdered my dog. Enough said.

TEAM SPORTS: Micky Blue Eyes finds it astonishing seeing an old family video of me as a child, on an overseas trip to Holland. Why? Because I was actually running through the tulip gardens.(Well, it was more like skipping,but you get the point) This aversion to running, combined with a pathological fear of balls, pretty much rules this option out.

POLE DANCING: Now we're talking! Definitely a possibility.  I can't think of a single reason why a middle aged, overweight woman, with recurring vertigo shouldn't at least give this a go. You only live once.

LINE DANCING: While I'm sure I'd rock the whole cowgirl, western look, my curious dislike of country music (considering my generally woeful taste in music) makes this option a no go as well.

YOGA: Or Breathing Up People's Bum's, as it sometimes referred too. I have tried this in the past, and didn't mind it, despite having zero flexibility. So I may go all hippy drippy and get into it again.

In the meantime, I'll stick to boring you with this blog.

 Linking up with Kirsty from My Home Truths for I Must Confess.

Do you have any hobbies? Are there any you would recommend?

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