I found last week exhausting. Returning to a (part-) week at two places of work after so long languishing on the sofa over the holidays, gently grazing over the remnants in the kitchen at will...
I am still finding it hard to get back into certain routines and to 'return to normal' - Hah! Whatever that is?
What does my 'routine' consist of these days, post-Empty Nest?
1. Monday and Friday - Working in my 'proper' job, still within the heart of government. My office is going to close at the end of March, so there's not long to go with that part of my routine;
2. Tuesday to Thursday - Working at my charity voluntary placement which my office is sponsoring, to enable some of us to have some recent work-experience to put on our CVs!
I love it at my placement, where they do wonderful things for and with young people. I'm helping them to gear up for some strategic stuff - I didn't know I would love it before I got there, as I trembled on the doorstep before gingerly pressing the buzzer to go up the steep Victorian stairs, but I'm really hoping that my work will lead to something more permanent for me post-March... Fingers crossed! I'm putting these words out into the Universe now, to this avail. Wish me luck, black cat!
3. Tuesday evening - My Psychotherapy coursework commences - This is going well, although it's still very new and a bit scary, to be honest... There's loads to read and absorb and I'm trying to get to grips with the difference between the practical requirements, the academic expectations, and how much self-reflection is needed... Such a balance to meet...
4. Wednesday evening - Now Group Therapy has begun - Once again, I'm not really certain what to expect, however, it is an essential part of the training programme, to take part in therapy yourself. I'm not sure how much I shall be able to share here... We'll see.
5. By Friday, I'm now feeling a little like the Cat at Midnight, as in this enchanting picture above... My head buzzing from the rigours of the week, I feel like strolling the streets in search of excitement and interest, eager for the weekend, where I squeeze in chores and necessary shopping, an outing to a Farmer's Market or 'antiquing' in slightly better weather than we've got at the moment - What a laugh that is - The reality being that some Sundays I visit something that looks like a motorway cafe for Sunday Lunch with my close family, with a week's worth of vegetables on my groaning plate, then stagger next door to what looks like half an aircraft hangar, corrugated and nightmarishly cold, filled to the rafters with furniture and treasures culled from country homes and house clearances, at home and in France, policed by lovely octogenarian ladies in floor-length vintage fur coats and granny-knits.
How they move any of the heavy furniture around, I'll never know. I suspect they have an army of ancient male help-meets, drilled into service and catering to their every whim.
I wish I did!
I need to build in some time to my routine for more exercise, as previously hinted. There's still time. I found myself toying with trotting in to a Wool Shop this weekend - Anxious as I am to try a return to crochet, heavily inspired by Mrs Jones Home Thoughts From Home and her fabulous achievements - CLICK HERE - Maybe I'm being too ambitious with plans for my routine!
Routine turns out to be essential to the human condition. Some of the practice around Psychotherapy is based in routine - Weekly meetings, therapeutic contracting, games and strokes. Did you know that, mes braves?
I am asking you to consider what your own routine consists of - Which of it is essential, and which is habit that perhaps doesn't do our souls any good really.
Not nagging, just curious. Honestly!
