April Update
Health Goal April Update
Surviving. That’s it. That has been my goal for April. Before the month started I had loftier ideas about what I wanted to accomplish. However, it became really clear to me I was pushing myself towards a cliff edge and I wasn’t down for that.
Part of growing healthy habits is knowing when to push yourself and knowing when to rest. My mental health was just not in a good place and while I was still functioning in the day-to-day pretty well I knew that wasn’t going to last if I kept on the path I was on.
So I put aside the initial health goal and took a break for myself. I will be honest and say at first I felt like a really big failure. I don’t think any of these goals have been strenuous so how could I possibly need a break? It was embarrassing and discouraging. But I listened to my gut and put aside the expectations I put on myself.
How Did It Go?
I’ve never been more thankful to have listened to my gut. I just needed to take time to breathe and ground myself again. The first week of April was spent feeling pretty sad and burnt out. That feeling stuck around longer than expected and I started to get anxious that I would *always* feel that way. Classic anxiety stuff. Spoiler alert that is total nonsense, regardless of what your brain tells you, things get better and the bad times don’t last.
Once I let myself rest and made space in my head to actually take a real look at what was going on in my head and with my body, I got back on track with what I wanted to accomplish. I just had so much more capacity and energy to get back into all the things I needed/wanted to do!
It’s not just being able to do more, although I do love that, it’s about how I feel while I’m doing it. Being able to live life and not fighting myself the whole time. It’s not being filled with dread thinking about the tasks on my list. As much as my brain sometimes throws me off track it’s also pretty great at getting me back on track. That’s the thing I always forget.
If you need it this is your sign to let the stuff go for now and I promise you’ll be ready to pick it all up again when you’re ready. Be kind to yourself.
Make Nine April Update
So last month I didn’t finish anything on my Make Nine list even though I had done a bit of work towards them. This month is quite a different story. Even though I’ve already made two iterations of the Pona Jacket they just weren’t exactly what I was wanting. They were nice but just not the end product I had been picturing in my head. So I went back to the fabric store and found a heavier duty twill fabric in an almost olive but not quite green colour.
I lengthened the entire pattern and sized it back up to the 16. Some belt loops and a waist tie were added on. I was undecided on the patch pockets and running out of time so I left them off. Unfortunately, I almost dropped my phone on the ground thinking there was a pocket there. Once I am able to I will be adding some type of pocket. I like the current lines of this jacket so I may add in some hidden side pockets.
Get the Pattern Here: Pona Jacket
More Make Nine
After over a year of putting it off, I finally got to making the Meghan Nielsen Cottesloe Swimsuit. EEK! I was so intimidated by this project. Often I think I just nat 20 rolled for charisma when I chose to add this project to my Make Nine list. (Yells at myself once again) It just seemed that extra step towards being an expert sewist that I knew I wasn’t ready to make. However, I went forward with it and guess what?
Making Swimsuits is super easy. Like, super easy! If you can comfortably sew with stretch material you can make a swimsuit. I even lined mine with swimsuit mesh and it was still easy peasy! Honestly shaken by this knowledge, I’ve spent way too much time crying in changing rooms because shopping for a swimsuit was an experience straight from the depths of hell. Thankful this has empowered me to craft swimwear tailored to my body.
Get the Pattern Here: Cottesloe Swimsuit
April Update Gratitude Check-In
Not to be braggy-braggy but I think I killed the game with the generosity this month. I wanted to give some clear objectives to myself this month so be a bit more focused on being generous. So I decided that every single time I went to make myself a cup of tea I would ask whoever else was in the house if they wanted a cup as well. That may sound small but I live in a house of people who are OBSESSED with tea. We drink a lot of tea.
Am I saying I had a good attitude about this? No, sometimes I felt a bit pissy at myself for forcing myself to do something nice to achieve my goals. But honestly, that annoyance was a blip in the day and overall I felt myself getting more aligned with who I want to be and how I want to walk through life.
If you don’t like the type of person you feel yourself becoming I cannot recommend this tactic enough. It’s simple and an almost daily occurrence.
Conclusion
This is not at all how I saw April playing out for me but looking back I am so happy it went the way it did. I felt this past month has been a really good reset for me. I’ve appreciated the time to let go of a lot of thoughts that had taken root in my head. Feel in a much better place to move forward. Truthfully I don’t entirely feel fully rested so I may take May as well to just focus in on listening to my body and taking things easy.
Hope you’ve had a good month full of rest and reflection.
Hannah
You can read the last month’s update here: March Update
