Pips had a great week. His catsitter spoiled him with lots of treats & pets as directed, and we spoiled him with lots of treats & pets when we got home from Dragon Con.
My week? Not as great. Not bad on a personal, immediate level, honestly, but I’m not gonna lie, I’m struggling against a stress high-tide of “what next with distant family?” question.
I don’t put pressure on myself to accomplish things the week after a con, because I’ve learned it’s counterproductive to fight the Inevitable Brain Crash. Usually, that’s accompanied by low energy. But my body processes stress AS energy. So all week I was itching to do things without the mental capacity to plan things.
Hello, cleaning, shopping, weeding, & cooking.
The cleaning was a natural progression from the unpacking/tidying up I need to do to properly inhabit whatever living space I’m occupying during & after travel. Added a bunch of exra laundry, and scrubbed a couple of things until they were shiny. Highly therapeutic, polishing is.
Shopping for comfort foods makes sense because comfort, right? The fact that I do 90% of my impulse shopping in the produce aisle is neither here nor there. It still counted as impulse & comfort.
Yard-wise, I harvested out the pumpkins from their drought-shriveled vines (oops) weeded all the planting beds, and watered all the thirsty perennials. Results: 10 pumpkins, a bowlful of tomatoes, and a bucket of hot Italian peppers.
The weather cooperated with cool, dry days, and chill nights that all but begged for baking to be done. So…I stress-baked a bit on top of all the rest. There’s nothing like feasting on homemade foods in a cozy clean homey space to make life feel just a little more anchored & settled. I even used tomatoes & peppers from the garden.
And tonight, here on the fringes of other drama, I opened up a story draft, settled right into writing, and it felt good.
postscript of pictures because why not?
One reply on “Stress Week in review”
Self care is hugely important, especially in the face of increased stress.