Hi fam, how are you ?

Hope the weeks been kind to you.

The sun after another almost full week of heavy rain has been like good medicine today and a chance to throw the windows and doors open holiday like.

Whatever your doing this weekend  I hope as always these few words and reads will be kind company to you along the way  – – –

A Good Word

Source: Be More With Less

A Good Look

One of my favourite things to do, relaxation wise is to sit with my feet up. I’ve always got my eye out for a comfy footstool or pouf or ottoman or whatever you like to call them. I’ve four all well used dotted around the house that double as extra seating when needed.  Five minutes, twenty minutes or an hour (if the planets align) with your feet up – its instant relaxation, white flag surrender and permission to reach for the book or the remote or the silence all rolled into one.

See more of 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒂 𝑳𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒏’ beautiful Swedish home here

A Good Idea

from Shauna Niequist

What’s one thing you can do today to give yourself a little more care or support?

What’s one thing you can do today to give the people in your home a little more care or support?

I’m back home after a short but lovely trip, & everyone I talk to right now is talking about burnout, about exhaustion, about a deeper-than-just-tired sort of fatigue.

It’s very real.

What we’ve all been carrying for the last few years is too much—too much uncertainty, too much loss, too much change.

At the same time, while we’re limping forward, life is speeding up: all the things that didn’t happen in person for 2+ years are happening now—weddings, graduations, class trips, family gatherings, work events.

This is a hard convergence, and what I’ve learned to do in these moments is to start with a handful of small, daily changes: “what can I do today to make things a little easier”?

Early bedtimes all around? A walk with a good friend to talk out everything you’re holding inside? An extra therapy appointment, an hour set aside to pray, changing the party menu from homemade to takeout?

I don’t know what it is for you, and I know that what fills up some of us are the same things that deplete others of us.

Sometimes I make a list of things I’m worried about that are out of my control, and I pray about each thing on the list and then let it go, over and over again—it’s not in my hands anymore.

What I’m doing today is spending a little time asking those questions: what can I do to give myself a little more breathing room?

And what do each of my kids need—space or connection or quality time or sleep? What does (my husband) need and how can I help?

It’s easy to feel like if you can’t change everything, you can’t change anything—we love the drama of grand gestures.

But small, daily changes can make a big difference.

Be gentle with yourself and your people today.

A Few Good Reads

From Cup of Jo

A Love Letter to My Anti-Anxiety Medication

When I was 27, I felt bad all the time.

Every morning, I’d wake up with hot gulps of anxiety, as if I were drinking boiling tea. Then I would feel panicky all day: if a car honked, I would jump; if my boss shouted, I would cry in the bathroom. Friends always seemed vaguely mad at me – – – keep reading

From Laura Vanderkam

When It Comes to Friendships, It’s OK to Be the Planner

In any given relationship or group, there is always one person who makes things happen. Everyone says “hey, we should get together!” but this person finds a date and makes the restaurant reservation. After a family meet-up in a park, everyone says “we should do this again!” but this person suggests meeting next Saturday at the children’s museum at 10 a.m. since the forecast calls for rain.

If you are reading this article on planning, my guess is that you are this person. You organize get-togethers with your friends all the time. That’s why you have wonderful things going on in your life! The only fly in the ointment is that sometimes you might wonder why other people don’t do as much or even any of the planning. You might wonder if they’re as invested in the friendship as you are – – In any given relationship or group, there is always one person who makes things happen. Everyone says “hey, we should get together!” but this person finds a date and makes the restaurant reservation. After a family meet-up in a park, everyone says “we should do this again!” but this person suggests meeting next Saturday at the children’s museum at 10 a.m. since the forecast calls for rain.

If you are reading this article on planning, my guess is that you are this person. You organize get-togethers with your friends all the time. That’s why you have wonderful things going on in your life! The only fly in the ointment is that sometimes you might wonder why other people don’t do as much or even any of the planning. You might wonder if they’re as invested in the friendship as you are – – – keep reading

And to finish from Kate Bowler

A Blessing (for when you feel guilty and weird about taking what you need)

The feeder is empty again
and no one is claiming that the birds are greedy
for taking what they pleased.

Look at how the fat, pink flowers
are weighing the end of each branch,
sucking nutrients into each velvet petal.
How selfish.

Nature hungers, takes and needs.
God, why can’t I?

Blessed are we, learning to take what we need.
Sleeping past our alarms.
Reaching for another helping.
Staying a little longer when the evening is unwinding.

Blessed are we, ignoring the rising anxiety
that our needs are somehow silly
because we’ve survived this long
without the pleasures of this wanting.

God, let these needs be the good sign
of the greening of my life.

Hear Kates beautiful reading of it HERE

That’s all for now friends. Have a beautiful weekend. Rest up. Do something you love xx