| The Stour stream – Green Wall Road, Sandwich |
| Are you having fun yet? |
| Mallard Drake Pondering Life |
| March blossoms overhanging Stour Stream |
| Music – Flow State |
| Last Sunday, Suze and l went for a walk, astonishingly the first of all this month! Our last country stroll was on the 26th of February, so for twenty-one days, we hadn’t walked anywhere exciting; if you exclude Gazen Salts, gardening and the allotment, we hadn’t walked anywhere casually for three weeks! It did and didn’t seem like three weeks, yet it was. We have been to the allotment and the client’s garden, and l have been busy with the nature reserve, but we had yet to take an actual relaxing walk. This is why we were pondering how time flies on that walk. Of course, the weather hasn’t been helpful, it’s been wet, and the dry spells you have in between the rain storms with the schedule of things needing to be done that we have to work with means grabbing time in a, b or c locations is more of a priority than taking a casual walk in nature. We also discussed priorities and what were mine specifically, and how time flies when you are busy and shattered even more randomly was a question that Suze asked of me – if l had to pinpoint five things that make me happy, what would they be? In the years before today and when younger, l could answer that question somewhat flippantly; however, twenty years later, finding the answers took a lot of time and careful deliberation. I had to consider time availability and prioritise what constituted and defined happiness and fun in the first place. It took me back to my early twenties and something my mentor once said. “Rory.” she said, “If you have to take a long time to consider whether something is fun or not, then it most assuredly isn’t, is it?” Fun is different from one person to the next. It’s a good question and one you should ask yourself occasionally. “Are you having fun yet?” Finding five things that made me happy as a question was interesting for another reason: whilst l am not unhappy per se, l am not overjoyed with many things in my life as one may be. I am vexed with a few things of late, and l knew something had to give. It would have been easier to list the things that were pissing me off over the five things that made me happy, l reckon. The poor weather was an issue and still is, but l have no control over that, and yet it is still a problem as it delays things that need to be done down at the allotment. Sure, you play catch-up with the gardening side of things. All that happens is that things don’t grow or don’t have the most significant growth period, but you can tweak things. With time shortening, you find the windows of opportunity get smaller, and that means when you are grabbing the dry a – c weather slots, you are trying to squeeze large squares into small circles! These days l prefer to avoid sitting at a screen, and l am spending more time looking at a screen than not, which is frustrating. How things change, how people change and more importantly, how l have changed. I have changed my personality incredibly over the last few years; l am no longer the person l used to be as little as five years ago. But l have noticed how l don’t seem ever happy or able to find fun. It did make me worry for a while, and whilst l was walking with Suze last Sunday, l did so think on this subject quite profoundly. I am not unhappy, just not happy, and that may be how many people feel these days. Perhaps happiness is merely a myth. But while l may not be happy, l still find some moments of joy and fun. The five things l said that awarded me joy or moments of pleasure, which was the better way for me to term it and not in any particular order, are photography, nature walks, working outside be this gardening or composting or worm farming, my love for wildlife and writing. Those still manage to award me my most effective forms of relaxation. When l am occupied with those, l am at my happiest. Four of the five are outdoorsy activities, and writing is the only indoorsy one, and yes, sure, you could write outdoors, but l am not one of those writers. Suze asked where I would l list blogging in my lineup of ‘fun’ activities. I didn’t answer her for a while, just thought about it, and when l did, l said, ‘Well actually, currently, whilst l love my blog and l love writing, l am not loving blogging. In truth, blogging is causing me quite a bit of social anxiety” However, that conversation is for another time and l will discuss the changes in the blog and this admission will not come as a surprise to some of my friends from my days over on the Guy blog . For the time being, these few photos are from last Sunday, a grey overcast day that was dry rather than wet for a few moments. It was a brief interlude that gave me some joy, which is rare these days. |
| The early February lambs now getting older .. |
| Earthly Comfort Designs available on my Redbubble Store. Collections – Earthen Wurmin, Inspired By Nature and The Autistic Composter Please Pop Along and Check Them Out. |
Earthly Comforts 
Limiting screen time is important, especially for happiness.
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I am not actually online that much to begin with Diana, l will be writing about this in the next couple of days.
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I think being happy has a lot to do with how we see life. I really enjoyed these photos. Thanks for sharing
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Hey Sadje, perhaps so 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the photos.
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The first one is just so good.
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Ah the bridge, yes l have always loved reflection and bridge photography too 🙂
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It can make a great screen saver or post card
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Very much so l on occasion have a few of my photos as a screen saver 🙂
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Cool.
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I feel happiness is being yourself, enjoying being yourself, and living in the moment. Life is too short not to be happy. If blogging becomes a chore, as with anything, then it is no longer fun. With that said, not everything in life is going to be fun and we can certainly walk away from those things that aren’t pleasurable. A couple of my favorite quotes –
“I am learning to love the sound of my feet walking away from things that aren’t meant for me.”
— Unknown
“The right mindset is the first step towards the journey.”
― Marion Bekoe
Take care and have a great day, Rory!
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Wishing you a lovely day also Eugenia,
I agree, life is too short for certain things at times.
Happiness is fleeting, but as l have written today, l can’t change the weather, but l can change direction 🙂
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