How are you doing? I hope you are doing okay....I am doing okay. I keep putting one foot in front of the other and each day and each week does seem to keep on passing us by, doesn't it.
I think we have all spent more time reflecting and reassessing than ever before. Here in Melbourne, just in case you are elsewhere in the World, we have been in and out of lockdown a few times. The most recent one over the last few weeks...which does seem to be easing again.
I admit I was one of those people who did get a bit too comfortable being at home during the long lockdown last year, and I did feel quite anxious at the thought of being forced back into life on the outside again. My studio is in my back garden, so I had plenty of distraction to get by.
My lockdown coping technique became getting absorbed in the busy…if I kept busy I would be okay. I was in my version of survival mode and if I'm honest I found it very hard to break the habit of being constantly productive. Yes, I was getting lots done, but that brought up the bigger question of ‘What is it all for?!!’
I do think these feelings will be around for a while. I have had my first shot of the AZ vaccine and I think that everyone getting vaccinated is really our only hope for things returning to any kind of normal. In the meantime we will carry on...doing what we do, controlling the things we can control and breathing through the ones we can't.
As usual, when I am in the studio it is music, podcasts and audio books that keep me company when I am painting. Here are a few podcast episodes that I have enjoyed.
Podcast Episodes I have enjoyed
Feel Better Live More – How to Achieve Your Goals Effortlessly with Greg McKeown
We’ve been conditioned to believe that the path to success is paved with relentless work. The more important the goal, the harder we have to grind. That if we aren’t perpetually exhausted, we’re not doing enough. Now, working hard is more exhausting than ever and many of us are stuck in an endless loop of “Zoom, eat, sleep, repeat” and we’re often working twice as hard to achieve half as much. Listen here
The Unmistakeable Creative – The Man Who Walked Away from a Fortune with Daniel Levin
For this episode of the podcast, Daniel Levin, Connectivity Expert and Author, shares a captivating recount of the life-changing events that lead him to go on to write the book, The Mosaic, and become the person he is today. Throughout this discussion, Daniel talks about losing both his parents at a young age, choosing to walk away from H&R Block when he was 16, as well as discovering the true power of connection, and much, much more. Listen here
How to Fail – Dr Alex George
For Mental Health Awareness Week, we have a very special bonus episode with Dr Alex George. A former Love Island contestant who after exiting the villa, returned to his job as an A&E doctor. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, he’s been hard at work on the frontline. Behind the scenes, he has had to cope with devastating personal tragedy – his younger brother, Llyr, died by suicide in July 2020. Alex’s openness about his own mental health has been a comfort for many, and in February he was appointed the UK’s Youth Mental Health Ambassador. This week marks the publication of his first book, Live Well Every Day. Listen here
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