Abundance: What’s Saving My Life Right Now

 

Today Anne Bogel at the Modern Mrs. Darcy is having a link up to celebrate the halfway point of winter. Click on over to find lots of different people sharing the things that are saving their lives right now.

I’m spending every Friday this year observing the things that bring abundance into my life, and how lucky am I that February 2 fell on a Friday? This is the perfect topic for today!

New Hampshire winters are beautiful, but so long. I’m lucky because I love all four seasons here, so I don’t complain too much when the snow starts to fall. In fact, I’m usually itching for it by that point in the year! But around February or March, I find myself tired of all of the dirty snow tracked into the house, of slipping on ice getting out of my car, constantly cleaning the snow off of and defrosting my car, and the gray days in general.

Around now is the time of year that I start itching for even a glimpse of green grass under our piles of snow and eye my crocus patches every time I come up our walkway. But there are a few things that are making this winter a little easier for me and I can’t wait to share them with you!

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My morning journaling and mindfulness practice has made a huge difference in my life. I wake up in the morning and begin my day with a hot cup of tea and two pages in my journal. I follow that up with lighting a candle, writing my daily gratitude and intention, and then shuffling up my tarot cards to bring a little insight into my daily life. I know it sounds hokey, but those daily affirmations and reminders have been everything to me. They’ve kept me moving forward and believing that there’s no reason why my hopes and dreams won’t come true.

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I have a bird feeder on my window at work and it’s an endless supply of entertainment! I’m usually visited by juncos, chickadees, mourning doves, bluejays, and cardinals. Occasionally I’ll have a squirrel try to climb my window to get to the feeder, but luckily those rascals haven’t made it. Yet.

The feeder has reminded me that Mother Nature and these tiny birds survive the winter, so of course I’m going to get through it! And their cheery chirps lend the flavor of spring, so I can pretend while my back is to the window.

 

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And speaking of pretending it’s spring, I find myself thumbing through my copy of Tasha Tudor’s Garden nearly every night. Tasha Tudor is who I want to be when I grow up and I’m enchanted by her flower gardens. I’ve started my 2018 garden wishlist with my right hand as I flipped through her garden book with my left. The pictures in this book are gorgeous and I’m ravenously trying to figure out how to grow 6 foot high foxgloves this summer!

I may be pinning very odd things on Pinterest right now (like how to make manure tea), but it’s making me so excited for spring that I can barely stand it. However, it’s reminding me how much work I need to do before planting season (such as choose from all of the varieties, order my seeds, and make a planting schedule) that it’s probably a good thing that winter will last a bit longer!

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I have been running my essential oil diffuser almost non-stop. Right now my blend of choice is eucalyptus+peppermint because of all of the congestion in our house. I’m trying to saturate our atmosphere with eucalyptus to ensure that everyone’s coughs go away! Typically I turn it on when I wake in the morning for my journal time and then again in the evening when I sit down to write for my blog. I bought this back in June and it still works like a dream. I put off buying a diffuser for a long time, but am so glad that I finally just took the plunge — it’s totally worth it!

There are a lot of places to buy essential oils these days and some of them are really expensive. A few years ago I bought this set from Edens Garden on Amazon and I’m still a big fan. You can also click around in Edens Garden shop and find specific oils or mixes that you’re looking for if you don’t want a big variety pack like the one I linked to above. I feel like I’m still really new to the essential oil world and there’s so much to learn!

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The fifth thing that’s saving my life is just a bit different from the others, but it’s made quite the impact. I’ve began purging the Twitter and Instagram accounts that I follow. For me, Instagram in particular is a place to go for inspiration, but I found that there were certain accounts that were only try to sell me stuff or left me feeling completely inadequate. As I come across those, I unfollow them. Life’s too short!

I’ve used Twitter as a means of following the political world, but it’s gotten so tiresome and overwhelming. I’ve began cutting out accounts that just seem mean-spirited and not at all uplifting. I’m still following plenty of political accounts, but I’m simply looking for a specific sort of message – those that make me think, look for the good in others, and share a clear way to work towards a better way for this country.

And besides, I spend way too much time on social media. One advantage of following fewer accounts is that it takes less time to scroll through my feeds and will leave me with more time to do the things that bring joy into my life!

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I can’t wait to read what everyone else is finding helpful right now. If you’ve linked up with Anne, be sure to leave your link in the comments below, too! And if you’re not linking up but have some tips to share, I’d love to hear them!