Cheer Up Technique #3: Clean and Declutter

Simplify, organize and declutter.

I see these words and this message everywhere on magazines, tv shows, in shops and on websites. I love to watch makeover shows and see the transformation from a messy space to what always appears to be a spacious oasis of organized calm. When I look at furniture and office supply catalogues I'm drawn into a fantasy world where everything is handy and work surfaces are clear.

My actual life really doesn't match this dreamy vision at all. In spite of some pretty clever storage solutions... it's usually a mess in here! That is why cleaning up and getting rid of the surplus was high on my list of cheer-up techniques. I know that I feel better when I have an organized space to live and work, and that was the lift I was looking for when i started on my project today.

I started with the balcony and moved onto the kitchen and my desk... and then I ran out of steam. It is going to be more than a one day project, but at least getting started has me feeling motivated to do more.

Cheer Up Technique #2: Count Your Blessings

I've read countless times that expressing gratitude for what is good in your life can lighten your mood.
I am going to try this technique right now.

I am grateful....

- for my health
- for the sun that shines in the windows of my safe home
- for my new job a short walk away
- for my old friends who taught me how to be a friend, and for the new friends too
- that there are so many good books to read
- for forgiveness
- to have a vacation to look forward to
- for all the love in my heart and to have a brave man to share it with
- that it is only 2 days until the weekend
- for all of the opportunities and suprizes that still lay ahead
- for coffee in the mornings
- for seals because they are my favorites
- and for camilla trees, because they are my favorite too
- oh, yes. and the moon and the stars and a thick mossy forest
- for my family entirely
- to live in a city full of sparkling water and glass
- to have all of the freedom that life in Canada offers
- to have so much to be grateful for

Ok, I can confirm that I am feeling better!

Cheer Up Technique #1: Make Something

I have known for awhile that making something can be a soothing distraction from mental stress and ponderous thought. Picking berries and cooking jam is a great relief from studying and writing papers. Slicing vegetables and making a big pot of soup can soothe away the tables and calculations of filing taxes. Painting, writing, collage, greeting cards, sewing, gardening... I am a complete amateur, but I know that having an idea, gathering the elements together and ending up with something new is satisfying to the soul.

These days I have been knitting and knitting and knitting. It just makes me feel better.

Cheer up!

"Change is as good as a rest"

This old adage is what I was counting on when I gave up the second half of my summer vacation in order to start a new job 2 weeks ago. I was so looking forward to the positive aspects of the change that I never considered that change is also disorienting, confusing and more than a bit tiring.

I have been gloomy, unsettled, sleepless, listless, unmotivated, etc. and I want to change that too.

So I have come up with 10 ways to be more cheerful and I'm going to try them out over the next 10 days.
Over the next 10 days I will be experimenting with popularly touted methods of blowing off the blues and will report back here on what works best.

In the meantime, have a look at the peppers we grew!

new start

I'm starting a new job tomorrow after 3 years working at the same place. I'm so excited for the change and the new opportunity, but it's sad to say goodbye to what has been familiar. I wanted to leave my colleagues with a sweet memory so I spent Sunday night producing dozens of cookies: peanut butter, chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin.

Our little kitchen was transformed into a cookie factory!