Happy Tuesday, fam! Does anyone else feel like the days are just running together? I feel like I was feeling that way even before the quarantine, but alas. I think it’s going on a month since I’ve been working from home, and I really think I need to get back on some sort of schedule again so I’m not always feeling so tired or stressed out, but I also know that with things being so uncertain, we need to be able to be kinder to ourselves and allow for some space to mess up and recover.

So that’s what I’m going to do, and I’m going to continue to do these event posts because they make me happy and give me the break I need to not feel unproductive. And thank you so much to Sam and Clo for creating this. It’s been helping me so much as I mentioned, and I really appreciate you both being so amazing.

Thank you so much to Lauren @ Northern Plunder for hosting today for Bookending Spring! I think the title of this prompt is perfect for the kind of feelings that a lot of us are having lately, don’t you?

Recommend books that help with organisation, spirituality, mindfulness, or calming you down*.
*Yes, this could mean your go-to reread fiction book that mellows you out.

So let’s think about this, shall we? What kind of books can I think of to recommend to help me calm down? I know I’m not much of a non-fiction reader by any means, so if I do include one in here, it’s gotta be definitely a special one. I’ll see what I end up picking, and hopefully you’ll share with me some of your options.

So I’ve been thinking about this all night, kind of. And while I don’t know about the books that I feel really help me to calm down, I will share with you some of my other resources that help me during this time.

I joined Shine maybe two months ago because my doctor was telling me that I need to lower my stress levels. There were some other apps that were recommended to me, and I forgot how I found out about Shine, but I feel like this was the best option for me. They have a Daily Shine section where we get a daily article, a daily meditation, and we give ourselves a daily mantra to follow for the day. It’s been so helpful for me and the topics that they give us to think about has really been great. I don’t even know how to explain it but this is a resource that has really, really kept me feeling better throughout my really hard times lately.

I feel like this helps me to feel organized and mindful because I want to be able to surround myself with those that will help me to continue to grow personally and professionally, and hopefully I can be the same for others. This book makes me want to gather intentionally, and it’s helped me to really be more mindful on the kinds of events I go to and the kind of energy I want to have when I do put myself out there on these events.

I mentioned this book earlier but now that I think about it, I notice that I like to go back to some aspects of my childhood when I want to calm down. So this book is one of them that I will constantly go back to when I need a moment to reset myself. I love reading about Momotaro the most, but all of the stories really bring me back to a time that was filled of less worries.

I noticed that a lot of these helped me to calm down, which I don’t know what that tells you about me, but it tells me that I’m always dialed to an 11 on the stress scale even when I don’t want to be. But, I know that I will eventually be able to calm down, or at least really calm down rather than make like I’m not stressed. Maybe I’m just better at hiding it when I need to, or to those that I don’t really care to talk to about my personal problems. I don’t know. BUT, I finally accomplished this and I feel so happy and proud of myself right now. Time to take a break and read for a bit.