Getting my spark back

For a lot of people, the last two years have been rough and yes, I can honestly say I am one of those people. Things have been so different given all the restrictions that we have had to deal with, and now I think we might be starting to establish a new normal. Yes, I am calling it a new normal because I think that is what it is or at least for a while that is what it is going to be.

I am one of those individuals that does have a bit of a silly/sassy side, and it hasn’t been around for a while now, and that has been getting me down. Between restrictions and issues with parents, it has meant that the last two years has been a challenge to say the least. I have kept up trying to make progress on things but the silly/sassy part of me just hasn’t been there, and I know that I have wanted to get it back but just haven’t been able to figure out how to do that.

Today, I think I am starting to see that sassy part of me come back, or at least that is what I am hoping that I am seeing. Today we went, and I ordered some new eyeglasses which I needed, but when I tried one of the pairs on, I felt that bit of a spark that has been missing start to come back. I know that it isn’t a big change, but at least now maybe I will start to gain back that part of me that can see the silly things or even be a silly sometimes. I am also one of those individuals that sometimes likes to wear a bit of bling and that hasn’t been happening, so possibly now that will start to appear. The glasses don’t have the bling, but perhaps the person that has been hiding through the last two years is starting to reappear.

I hope that a lot of other people are starting to get back to being the person they were, before all of this happened because I think we need to do the things that we loved doing and bring back the joy that has been missing for a lot of us. I am not sure how much of my silly/sassy side is going to be appearing and how quickly, but at least today I got to see a smile on my husband’s face when he saw that bit of my sassy side start to appear.

Remember that we need to ensure that we do things that make us happy and things that make others smile, so even those little things can make a difference moving forward. My spark might be returning, and I hope it is because that is what puts a smile on my face.

 

Hiding from the world

I think a lot of us have times when we just want to hide from the world and do our own thing. I know that I have said that quite often through the pandemic and everything else that has been going on in our world. Hiding from the world for me means a chance to sit and do the things that I love doing without all the other distractions that I normally deal with.

What does hide from the world mean to you?

-        Is it sitting somewhere and just losing yourself in a television series or television program where you can sit and do nothing?

-        Is it curling up with a good book or series of books and sitting and reading and losing yourself for hours in them?

-        Is it going for a long walk where you can find the space to get away from all the different sounds that we deal with each day?

For me, hiding from the world can be a few different things, and it depends on the day and my own mood. Here are some of what hide from the world means to be:

-        Sitting and curling up with one of my crafts and not dealing with any of the social media or emails that are coming in and wanting my attention.

-        Finding a place where I can sit and watch people without having to interact with everyone. I just want to sit, and people watch.

-        Going for a nice drive where we are spending time without all the other distractions that seem to get in the way. We normally will do these drives without the radio on, and we also avoid checking our devices for messages for a while.

-        Sitting and listening to some enjoyable relaxing music with my ear buds in and not being able to hear what else is going on around me. Having some noise-cancelling ear buds has made a huge difference, as it gives me a way to sit and not hear all the other sounds.

-        It is sitting by some water and watching the movement of the water and seeing the birds and maybe even the fish.

Hiding from the world is what I can sometimes do, and it doesn’t have to be very long. I have found that sometimes even escaping from the chaos of the world around me for 10 or 20 minutes can make such a big difference. For everyone, the definition of hiding from the world is going to be different, and you must understand that each person needs their own time and space.

I have been sitting here writing this while listening to some relaxing music with my ear buds in. Sure, it is partly my escape, but it is also a way that I can focus and get some other thoughts out of my head without the distractions from the rest of the world. If you need the time to escape or hide from the world, understand that you aren’t odd or different.  You just require the time to recharge your own personal batteries or maybe just even yourself a bit of time to clear your head from all the surrounding sounds.

Getting back into a routine

For a lot of us, the pandemic has meant that our routine has changed a great deal. Now that things are starting to return to a normal, it is time to start figuring out what the new routine is going to be.

Remote working

For a lot of people, working remotely was implemented during the lockdowns and something that is now may be changing for people. I have heard that there are some companies that are going to now have a blended work schedule where you can work remotely most of the time and only go into the office for meetings and special things.

Some companies are going to be asking that the staff return to work most of the time and only work remotely occasionally. I think a lot of the decision is how the remote working has helped the business. In some cases, businesses need to have more interaction between staff, so that means that they need to be in the office more often.

Events/Conferences

This year I think is going to be a very different year again for events and conferences as they try and figure out the new way of doing things. For us, we have had some events cancelled again this year due to the uncertainty of everything. Some events are going back to normal in person conferences, and then you also have some that are doing a blend of both in person and virtual. I am not sure what is going to be the best, but at least things seem to be moving forward.

Our routine

I think for everyone it is going to take quite a while for a normal routine to be established again because of how long we have had to deal with all the different changes. I know for us, we have worked remotely for years, so that won’t change. For us, some of the biggest changes are going to be the conferences and events that we have attended in the past.

I am not sure what the new routine is going to be for us, but I do know that it is going to take us a while to establish how we are going to be doing things moving forward. Part of our routine will be based on how clients are working, but we will also have our own routines as well to get established.

Working remotely does have its advantage as it means that there isn’t a commute to the office, but it also means that there are more distractions sometimes that need to be managed. Getting into a new routine is going to take some time, but at least once it is established it will make things a lot easier moving forward.

Hopefully everyone is getting into their new routine, even if it is the same as before the pandemic. I will now say that routines are going to be new moving forward because we have figured out ways to do things differently than we did before we were in lockdowns. Getting back to a routine is very important, and hopefully we are all going to be happy with our routine moving forward.