Is This Something You Do?

It’s a rainy winter Sunday for us in Sydney. My older son just got back from a two hour hike (packing 30 kilos of weights) in the bush; my younger one is sleeping in after a late-night skateboarding session in the garage with a mate.

I’m up with coffee and candles, lamps on, watching the early morning rain.

Resting.

Is this something you do? Do you prioritise rest?

Do you give yourself permission to slow down and actually enjoy resting? I’m bad at this but I’m trying to get better. I’m learning that rest needs to be deliberate and planned in order to feel like a break (for me). Now that work has spilled over into our home lives in the past decade—and even more so during COVID—it’s important to decide when we’ll rest.

We’re trying to take Sunday as a rest day.

No work. No emails. No sneaky copywriting to get ahead for the week. No book writing.

Are you going to rest this weekend? Can you plan a rest you actually enjoy? (Coffee, candles, a good book. A nap, a walk, some time to daydream.)

I’m sure you deserve it.

Love Catherine x

PS. Thinking of you all as the world turns and Covid surges back and forth. I hope you and yours are well. If work is a problem, I hope you find a way to create something new. I’ve been there during the Global Financial Crisis and it’s so hard…when you’re stressed and worried and can barely think through all that fear. Reach out if you need a little encouragement. I’m here.

Find a Secret Zone In Your Home

I am a do-er, and I’m trying everything right now. You?

We’re all different, of course, but for me, being productive and getting my mind interested in new things just works better. I feel happier, more like myself, and more able to help others.

Hello, yoga.

I tried it when I was nineteen, and spent the whole class literally tapping my fingers on the ground impatiently waiting to get out of the little room filled with flexible people.

Now I’m 53.

I’ve been meaning to try yoga for a zillion years because I’m not flexible enough. So in this time of world pandemic, where everything is going crazy and we’re all worried, I decided to carve out a little space to get started.

Have you done this yet? Re-evaluated your home looking for small zones where you can try something new?

Please try! No matter how tiny your living space, it’s exciting to look at it with fresh eyes and wonder what you can make of it.

It reminds me of two things — when you have a dream that your house has an extra room, and you get to explore it. Remember how amazing this is?

It also reminds me of a favourite picture book I found when I was a girl. It was first published in 1967 and reprinted in 1993. Evan’s Corner is about a little boy in New York City, youngest of six like me, who lived in an apartment. (I lived in a big old farmhouse on a sprawling Canadian wheat farm.) Evan didn’t have his own space, so his Mum let him have a corner of the apartment. And in his corner, he made a beautiful creative ‘room’. He taped pictures to the wall, found a milk crate, a tiny rug, a stack of books, and a pet turtle. As a kid, I admired his spirit and ingenuity.

As an adult in “shelter at home” mode, I’ve found these zones:

• Pulled a chair and footstool into a sunny corner, opened the blinds, and created a ‘reading nook’

• Parked the car outside the garage to have ‘a gym’

• Enjoyed a facial in my ‘spa’ — a freshly cleaned bathroom, with a newly laundered set of towels

And yesterday, I shifted over my son’s cello and found a mat-sized space on the floor that I now call My Yoga Studio. My family finds it hilarious every time I say My Yoga Studio and walk to the side of a room, but I feel WAY more motivated when I create a space for myself and talk about it.

A mat, a candle, a laptop. Free classes online at YouTube.

Really, we are so lucky.

While we worry about the world, we can also learn and grow.

What are you doing during this time? Let me know — inspire me!

Love Catherine x

PS. If you, like me, are trying to find ways to help, this mask effort is amazing. It was spearheaded by four people who are getting masks from a Mexican factory FedExed to New York City, minus any red tape or delays. Learn more here.

An Antidote to Worry

Hello — dropping in to see how everyone is today.

Doing okay? Worried? A mix of both? (I don’t know about you, but I don’t normally scrub my beans in hot water and soap. Except now I do. Welcome to the new normal…)

During this time of physical distancing, when we’re all taking extra care to keep each other healthy, it’s easy to worry.

A dear American friend and coach, Victoria, mentioned something on Instagram that I loved. When we have a worry thought, Vic said, we should test it.

The word that got me is “actionable”.

So much of the time, my worry is me rocking faster in a rocking chair — going nowhere. Got the visual?? My mind just zooms off into the worry without asking, what is actionable? What can I do?

If the worry thought is none of these things — actionable, useful, accurate — we need to drop it.

When the worry is real, we need to make a decision, figure out one tiny step forward and act. I’m going to take Vic’s advice and give it a try. I need to remember the Worry Test.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Want some coaching from Victoria? You can find her here! Thank you for being a bright light in the world, Vic!

• Want some of my surplus mum-love, now that my teens are tired of it and just want to do school work and watch YouTube videos in peace? Ha! Send me an email if you need encouragement during this tough time. I’m here, girlfriend.