Sandra Madeira

Even though I had to drive the girls to school and had a busy day at work, I have felt really calm and relaxed all day – not really letting anything get to me.

I enjoyed regular breaks throughout the day and at lunchtime I ate my lunch on the swing seat in the garden. The sun was so hot (not complaining, it’s lovely) and the music I chose from a random search on Apple Music was mesmerising and peaceful. I stared up at the lonely aeroplane in the sky (did you spot it in the picture above?) and wondered where those passengers were going.

For the last ten minutes of my lunch break I moved to the shady seat for some shut eye. I could have spent hours in that peaceful moment but I had to get back to my emails.

All the work I’m doing to create spaciousness in my life is making me feel very laid back and more organised. I like the new me that is distancing myself from the clutter and doesn’t react and get stressed. My breathing is noticeably slower.

Leftovers!

I had some leftover roast potatoes and veg from yesterday’s roast lamb but no meat, so I cut up a couple of chicken breasts into large goujons and added garlic pepper, mixed herbs, honey and mustard.

I then cooked it for about 30 minutes and it was pretty good.

Feeling organised with the recycling

As I had prepared and stacked all the paper and cardboard recycling at the weekend, and I’ve been keeping on top of during the day, I only had to do one last look around the house before dragging the bins and boxes round the back.

It felt good getting it done earlier in the evening than usual. As I say every fortnight, I’m so shocked with how much we recycle. The bin containing plastic, tin, glass, foil etc was full to the brim.

The house feels lighter.

Slowing down

I would never have thought that slowing down actually speeds up the process of what you are trying to achieve, in my case, creating space. It’s like I’m uncovering a new me and I’m loving it.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

I was looking at my ‘I feel happy when…’ list again earlier today, and I noticed an entry that said that ‘I feel happy when I see a tidy space’. I’ve been living with clutter for so long, that any glimpses of tidy spaces please me so much that I want more of the same.

I don’t know whether I’m making it more complicated because it sounds quite simple to create space doesn’t it? However, when I’m faced with stuff, I sometimes freeze on the spot.

My friend sent me a quote about how clutter respresents indecisions. That’s exactly it. When I see clutter (i.e. something with no current home) I think of it as something really difficult to deal with and either put it off or get annoyed with myself for not being able to decide.

Not anymore!

After yesterday’s realisation that I can separate myself from the clutter and witness how I am feeling instead of trying to fix things and attaching myself to the outcome, I decided to practise this method again today. I spotted a bag, that I recently put by the back door, and took action. It was stuff from the garage that we had put in a sealed box when we were doing the kitchen a few years ago.

Rather than saying ‘I am fed up with the stuff being by the back door, I said ‘this is clutter that can be sorted out’ and took the bag to the dishwasher and loaded it with items I wanted to keep, and put the rest in the bin or the charity bag. It was quite a quick process and I felt better seeing the space by the back door again.

Of course, I have to find somewhere to put the stuff that I found so I have a feeling that some might end up back in the charity bag if they start to get in my way. Here are a few of the items that I’ve washed so far.

They shouldn’t be difficult to find a place for. I remember finding an empty case for the barbecue tools in the garage somewhere. They now have a home!

Getting the others to make their own dinner

After work today, I needed to catch up on some course work for my coaching qualification ready for tomorrow’s catch up session. It was 6pm and I would normally have been faced with the dreaded dinner time stress. Instead I decided to do something different.

I was going to be making myself a fishfinger and lettuce sandwich a bit later but no one else wanted that. My husband and daughters agreed to do their own dinner. The girls said they’d cook something from the freezer and my husband had some salmon in the fridge that needed using today.

So, I spent some quiet time in the conservatory and caught up on what I needed to do without worrying about everyone else.

I was really tired after that and then my daughter reminded me that I needed to wash their PE kits for tomorrow. All done now and hopefully it’ll be dry by the morning.

Just need to sort out the kitchen and I can get some sleep.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra