Slowing the brain down

For a lot of us there are times when we don't know how to deal with getting the brain slow down before we go to bed and I know I'm one of those because there are times I just want to continue to write. In some cases, it's just too many ideas running around in my head and I can't seem to get the words into one format so that when I go to write about them nothing seems to happen. I can have lots of ideas all at once, but it is just trying to figure out how to get them down on paper.

Tonight is just one of those nights where I want to be able to make lots of notes and see that I have been able to accomplish something. The problem is that when I go to write them down everything just blends and I can’t get each individual idea down. When I can get even a few words about each idea down it seems to help me be able to slow the brain down a bit. How often have you sat either in front of your computer or with your notebook and nothing seems to come out. Yes, you have lots of thoughts and ideas, but nothing makes it out of the brain.

How do you slow your brain down:

• There are times when I can just relax and my brain starts to know that it's time to wrap up all the various thoughts and ideas for the day before I go to bed.

• There are times when I tuck in or about to tuck in and all the various thoughts and ideas start bouncing around and I just can’t slow them down. This is normally when I grab the notebook and I try to at least write out one thing or even just words that don’t make sense in the morning.

• Sometimes just being able to close my eyes and focus on relaxing helps sometimes. I have also found that I sometimes use a pillow/room mist on my pillow and the scent helps me to relax and close the brain down.

• One thing that I have found that does help me sometimes in the evenings is taking either a St John's Wort or a Gaba does helps me and I can see that I've been able to get things done.

I think everyone has a different way of slowing their mind down when it starts to feel like everything is just racing around. Right now, I'm sitting here writing this before I try and get to bed because my brain bounced around this idea for quite some time, so it was time for me to at least try and get some of it out.

Being able to slow your brain down can be a challenge and it can really depend on what you were doing throughout the day. I know that when I have been very active with things those are the nights that I have the hardest time slowing the brain down enough so that I can get a good night sleep. If there have been lots of things happening around me during the day and/or evening I try to ensure that I at least try and capture a few small thoughts or ideas and that normally helps.

YouTube and TopChat

It has been interesting to see that YouTube has decided that for some channels they are going to implement what they call TopChat. It sounds interesting in a way as it is supposed to who the top people that chat on the YouTube channel. What they don’t say is that people can try and give themselves extra chats because of how they post 

I am a part of a couple of channels and one of them has the chat that is available and I have noticed a couple of things that make me want to make note of them

1. People think that for every comment they make they are going to be counted with the chat but there is a limit of the number of chat posts you can make within a specific time.
2. Why do you have to say hello to each person in the chat in separate posts because you could say Hello, xxx, xxx, xxx and xxx. I think you figure that if saying hello to each individual person in a separate post is going to count as a point, but I say tell you, you are wrong.

Being able to just be natural in your posting can make a lot of difference because the posts that you make will be important and meaningful and just not a couple of words that show you are trying to just be there in chat. In some ways you are showing an insecurity because you have to show that you think you are important when what you are showing that you don’t feel important or secure about yourself and you need to keep saying something.

I have spent a lot of time within social media, and I have figured out what I should say and when I should say it because that is what is important. If I just keep saying the same thing over and over again, I am showing an insecurity but if I can make appoint in one post that makes a big difference.

When it comes to the chats where you can become the top chat person you have to understand that you might become the top chat person, but what you are actually posting makes a big different to those that actually see the chat. I know that for me, I look at the people that are posting and I will see what they are posting and the number of posts they make versus how many posts are actually important.

What I have found is making sur that your posts are relevant and important to the group makes a big difference and it doesn’t matter what the TopChat status is because as long as you are stating importing facts that is what matters.

Common courtesy in hotels

Recently during one of our mini vacations, I noticed that some people feel that they are entitled to do things differently than others that are staying at the same hotel. What I am talking about is how people act while they are enjoying a free breakfast that is offered as part of the price of the hotel room.

Here are some examples of what I am talking about:

• They come in and get their breakfast and enjoy it but then get up and leave and don't remove the dishes from the table. The idea of a self-serve breakfast is there is normally an area allocated where you are to put your dirty dishes. By removing your dirty dishes, you are making the table available to someone else.

•  Some individuals come down and they grab their coffee and then go and take a table for four people, and there is one person and they decide to sit and read while enjoying their coffee. It might be fine when the breakfast area isn't busy, but when it gets busy maybe it's time to find another location where you can enjoy your coffee and read your book. Where we were staying, they had a couple of small sitting areas which would have been great for sitting and reading a book.

•  Of course, there are going to be other individuals that pile their plate full of stuff and only eat part of that plate of food and then remove that plate from the table and proceed to go back and get another plate of food. Why didn't you eat what you got the first time. I think it's better to take a bit of food and then have to go back and get more than take piles and not eat it.

• A group of four people but they have to take up two tables where four people each could sit. If there are four of you it is only considerate if you could take one table for four people leaving the other table available for others.

I understand that there are going to be times when situations are different but remember that there are other guests in the hotel that what to enjoy their breakfast and they also need to find a spot where they can sit down and enjoy their food. It is nice when a hotel offers a free breakfast as it is a great start to your day, especially if you are heading to work while out of town or you are going to be starting another travel day.

Knowing that if you are able to have a quick breakfast in the breakfast area and leave it clean for the next guest can go a long way. Understanding that keeping the area clean makes a big difference as the staff try to ensure that the food is hot and available for the rest of the guests when they come down to have their breakfast. A free breakfast during a hotel stay is always so nice to have and we all have to remember that this benefit could go away quickly if too many guests just take it for granted and feel they are entitled.

Taking pictures of your meals

Something that I haven’t figured out is why do people have to take a picture of their meal when they are out at a fast food or restaurant. To me, it feels like if I don’t take a picture, I really didn’t have the food. That is probably wrong, but it is always funny when I see someone taking a picture of their plate before they start eating. It’s like their phone/camera needs to have the proof of the food.

To me, when my meal arrives, I look at it and then the next thing I do is start to eat it. My phone/camera doesn’t need the proof of what I had to eat, and I am not going to share it on social media, most of the time. There have been a couple of times when I have taken a picture of something we are having because I want to share the size of something that we got.

In my case, I wanted to share a picture of a Texas Donut that we got at Mariposa Market in Orillia, Ontario. Now this donut isn’t your normal size donut, and it is something that you will probably be sharing with someone you are with or it’s going to take you some time to eat it. I took two pictures of this donut as the first picture doesn’t show the size of the donut and the second one is with a man’s hand for comparison. As you can see the document is a good size and we cut it in half and we both enjoyed a half.

I understand that if you were a food critique you would probably take a picture of the meal that you are writing about. For the average person, how many people want to see what you have for a meal when you are at a restaurant or fast-food location? I know that I don’t want to see what you had and you probably don’t want to see what I have when I go out.

Taking pictures of your meals is something that I don’t understand unless it is something that goes above and beyond expectations and it is very special. Seeing a picture of your steak or salad isn’t something that I want to see. So, when you are out in a nice restaurant remember that other people are going to see you taking the pictures, will probably wonder why you did it.

What makes me feel happy and what doesn't work each week

For someone that does a lot of crafting there are going to be weeks when one project catches my attention and then another week it just doesn’t seem to work for me and I have to accept that.

Recently as someone that normally does a lot of cross stitch in a week, I have been finding it a challenge to even think about picking up one of my projects. I am certain if it is because of the projects that I am working on or what it is but wanting to do some cross stitch hasn’t been a priority for me.

What I am talking about is finding what makes you happy and not stressing about letting something else slide for a week because it just isn’t catching your attention. This has been something that I have been dealing with because for so long I would cross stitch every day of every week and that is what I was telling myself was important. Well, I discovered that forcing myself to stitch everyone day even if I project caught my attention or not wasn’t going to work for very long.

After realizing that I was putting too much pressure on myself to make sure that I did a specific technique each wasn’t something that I wanted to do so things need to change. What needed to change was the pressure I was putting upon myself to cross stitch each day no matter what I was really wanting to do on a specific day.

Over the last little while I have been trying to focus on each day instead of a week and figuring out the project that I want to work on that specific day. It has helped a lot as I have now been able to see some good progress on a few projects and very little on other projects. I might end up on a given week saying that what I worked on wasn’t what I originally planned on working on but at least I have been able to make some good progress. I know that I have lots of projects that I can work on, but what I have accepted is I need to work on a project that brings me job each day or each week and I have to just let it happen. It’s been a challenge to figure out what I want to work on and what makes me happy, but I think I am finally starting to see the smile come back on my face.

Yes, what makes me happy each day or week might vary but I have to know that it’s ok to see that I am not focusing on one technique during a week. Being able to allow myself to be happy is the most important thing and we will see how things go moving forward.

Do What Makes You Happy

There are so many times that I have heard people say that you must do this and you must do that without thinking about those things might not make someone happy. There have been times when people have told me that I need to do a specific because that will make me happy. Well, honestly you don’t know what will make me happy. I know some of the things that make me the happiest and there are some things that don’t make me happy at all. 

Sure, your partner will probably be able to figure out what makes you the happiest and they will probably encourage you to do what that specific thing is. For me it’s my stitching (either cross stitch or English Paper Piecing) and what I hear is “Go stitch your mind back together.” This is my indication that I need to find a little bit of time to do something with my hands to regain my focus and my relax.

It doesn’t matter what the thing is as long as you are able to spend a bit of time doing something that makes you happy that is what matters. I know that there are people that exercise makes them happy and others it is a specific craft or spending time outside or reading a good book. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as you are doing something that makes you happy.

Everyone needs to figure out what makes them happy and what helps them relax because that is what matters and it doesn’t matter if someone else doesn’t agree with you. You need to do what helps make you happy and no one can say you shouldn’t be doing that unless it is something illegal then they do have the right to say that.

Sure, someone else might suggest something else that they think might make you happy but really you are the only one that I can figure out what does. I have heard so many times that I should be doing this or that and, in most cases, they aren’t things that I enjoy or that make me happy.

Making sure that you know and do what makes you happy is the most important thing. If you try and do what everyone else things you should be doing you aren’t going to be happy, and you are just doing things to make others happy. Remember, when it’s your downtime you need to ensure that you are in your happy place even when others don’t agree with you.

English Paper Piecing

When someone said to me that I might enjoy English Paper piecing, I immediately said that wasn’t going to happen because I don’t like hand sewing. Well, I guess I am going to have to say that English Paper Piecing (EPP) has changed my feeling about hand sewing. 

There are some simple things that I can say about EPP:

• It’s relaxing
• It’s repetitive
• It’s meditative

These are just three things that I can say about EPP and yes, it is all that are more. It is bringing back a technique that was popular many, many years go. Making things using the scarps of fabric that you had was something that people did. You could end up with a quilt that was for a bed, and it could contain parts of shirts, dresses, tops, etc. and it was a way of repurposing something that either didn’t fit any longer or parts of it were worn out.

The difference between EPP many years ago and now is we cut up good fabric to make it into the various quilts or other items that we want to make. Yes, sometimes a quilt or throw can be a memory quilt, and it is made using the shirts, etc. of someone that has passed away. I am currently working on three memory quilts from shirts from my stepfather. Yes, it can a bit of a emotional challenge when you think about the various shirts but at least knowing that you are able to make something out of the shirts is a good feeling.

I started trying to do English Paper Piecing in 2019 and then really started to do it in 2021 after my stepfather passed away. It then mostly went away while I was dealing with my mom having health issues and passing away. Now that things are getting back to normal, I have found myself reaching for my EPP more than my cross stitch which for me is so different. EPP has brought a calm to me and that is what is making me happy.

I don’t know how long it will be something that I pick up first before something else, but I am going to enjoy the joy and I know that there are things that I have learned in the last couple of weeks that have made it work even better.