I’m Rethinking Everything: Blog, Work, Life, Self Care – You Name It, I’m Rethinking It

A Wednesday-only post is not my usual content output for any given week – but then it’s not exactly a usual week, is it?

[Reading time: 3 mins]

What the hell happened? I’ve woken up every morning this week with a sense of panic – like you do when you wake up after a weird, slightly disturbing dream – except this time I’ve realised I hadn’t been dreaming. It was actually true.

This is the only bit of (actually quite short) writing about the doom and gloom I’m going to bestow on you all, but of course it needs addressing. Not that I want to poo-poo the seriousness of the situation we’re all in (because OMG it’s flippin’ serious), but I don’t need to add to the panic. Like many of you have been telling me through your replies to my Instagram stories*, it’s nice to keep a sense of normality wherever possible and to continue to talk about – and read about – stuff that fills the heart with joy. We NEED joy.

(*I’m very active on stories these days – lots of birdsong on my walks and Suki pictures – and I’ve decided to keep my grid posts to just two or three a week and see how that goes. Better start posting again now I’ve said that…)

We still need to find our happy places. After all, it seems like we’re going to be stuck indoors for the foreseeable future, so it makes sense to look for joy, doesn’t it?

 

Where I’m going from here

So no outfits or link ups this week I’m afraid, but don’t worry: I won’t be stopping them. I just needed a week off from producing my usual content to concentrate on how this is all going to affect me, my work, my loved ones and my family.

When I say I’m rethinking work, I’m talking about how I earn a crust. I’m talking about how I structure my days. I’m talking about the fact that I may/may not have Keith at home with me, and the fact that he may well not have any money coming in if his work closes (his job cannot be done from home unfortunately). Things are okay for him at the moment (and his company are being very reasonable), but who knows what will happen in the coming weeks/months.

I’m talking about the fact that I won’t be earning any money from modelling or video shoots up in London, styling events or similar. I’m talking about the fact that I assume PR agencies and brands might cut advertising and blogger outreach budgets, so my earning potential may dry up altogether.

I’m sure 90% of you reading this will be in a similar position. I feel for you all. I also have elderly parents to worry about and I’m wondering how we’re going to look after them safely, without putting them at risk.

Funnily enough, the last post I published last week – The Mindset You Need to Lose Weight in Your 40s (or During/Post Menopause) – was incredibly timely because of the need for so many of us to rethink our fitness regime now we’ll be at home for long periods on end. (I promise you it was not planned that way, it just took me ages to write!)

So as requested by many, I’ll get part two written as quickly as possible so that we can practise a healthy diet and fitness regime together.

This week Keith and I will sit down and go through all our finances, look at where we can cut back and consider some alternative ways we can make some money. Selling on eBay (I think) seems like a good prospect right now. (Thoughts on that from a buyer’s perspective?) I’ve had to cancel the detox break I’d planned to go to in June, both from a financial and practical point of view. Every avenue for saving/making money will be explored.

Thankfully we hadn’t organised a holiday or flights for anything this year (we wouldn’t have gone anywhere until we’d had Suki at least a year before leaving her with anyone for any sort of length of time anyway) so luckily we haven’t lost out in that way.

So yes, I’m rethinking everything. Who knows where we’ll be – where THE WORLD will be – in three, six, twelve months’ time? I’ve heard some really heartbreaking stories already, but then I’ve heard some wonderfully uplifting ones as well. If there can be a silver lining to all this, I hope it’ll bring out the best in humanity. Let’s not forget this affects everyone, from your best friend to your boss to celebrities – even that idiot who trolled you last month.

Maybe crime will go down? Maybe a dirty tabloid rag or two will go out of business (fingers crossed)? Maybe the human population will start practising kindness for real AT LAST and treating the planet with a little more care? Who knows. Let’s hope so.

Let me know in the comments how you’re coping – any happy stories to come out of all of this are most welcome.

Stay safe everyone, keep washing your hands and see you next week when things will hopefully resume back to (the new?) normal here on the blog. Oh and respect that toilet paper, people, respect that toilet paper…

XOXO

P.S. Please leave me your suggestions for what to sing while washing my hands… I’m SICK of singing happy birthday to myself!!